Category: Business Day

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, has expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work at the Creek Road Market in Port Harcourt, assuring that it will be completed by January 2027.

A statement by Onwuka Nzeshi, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, on Friday said Fubara stated this on Friday during an inspection visit to the project site.

Fubara said the visit was prompted by his meeting with SETRACO, the construction firm, handling the resurfacing of roads in the old Port Harcourt Township.

He said SETRACO had identified the Creek Road axis as a major cause of delay in its road rehabilitation works, as traders have virtually taken over the road, making it difficult for the contractor to work.

The governor noted that relocating the traders to the new market remained the only solution to freeing the road for the resurfacing work to be done successfully.

Despite the challenges encountered since the commencement of the project, Fubara said he was impressed with what he saw on site, commending the contractor for the quality of the job done so far.

He disclosed that the first phase of the market comprises about 700 stalls and shops, covering both wet and dry sections, which he said is sufficient to accommodate most of the women trading along Creek Road and ultimately restore free flow of traffic along the route.

The governor assured the contractor handling the market project that the State Government will play its part to ensure the project continues as agreed, including addressing the issue of funding in order to guarantee its timely delivery.

Speaking on the benefits of the market, Fubara said the project goes beyond providing trading spaces, as it is also aimed at restoring sanity, decency and a healthy environment in the Old Port Harcourt Township, which he described as home to many aged people and ‘aborigines’ of the city.

He lamented that the situation of the old market forced traders onto the streets, turning the Creek Road and adjoining streets into an open market.

Governor Fubara observed that the current situation of trading along the streets could create serious environmental and health hazards, noting that many diseases are caused by overcrowding, dirt and uncleanliness.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of Rivers people, stressing that he is happy not just as head of the current administration, but as a citizen of the State to see a project that will return the old Port Harcourt Township to its cherished status as a clean and orderly city.

The Delta State Executive Council has approved the reconstruction and rehabilitation of several roads across the state, including the first phase of the Warri Ring Road, the Ugbolu-Illah Road and major roads in Warri and Effurun.

The approvals were granted at the council meeting presided over by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori at Government House, Asaba.

Charles Aniagwu, Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, disclosed the decisions while briefing journalists after the meeting.

Aniagwu who was accompanied by Festus Ahon, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, said, ‘Among the major approvals is the reconstruction of the first phase of the Warri Ring Road, covering the stretch from First Marine Gates to Port Gate. The council also approved the rehabilitation of the road from Old Port Gate to the NPA Expressway’.

Other approved works include rapid rehabilitation and asphalt overlay on Airport Road, Warri, Jakpa Road in Effurun and Refinery Road, Effurun.

Aniagwu said the projects were aimed at improving road conditions, easing traffic movement and addressing infrastructure challenges in the Warri-Effurun axis.

He said the rehabilitation of Refinery Road had become urgent because of its deteriorating condition and the difficulties it posed to motorists and residents.

According to him, Governor Oborevwori directed the relevant Ministry of Works to assess the road and submit a proposal to the council for approval.

The council also approved an extension of the ongoing flyover project at Otovwodo Junction in Ughelli, as well as additional works on the adjoining road corridor. A similar extension was approved for the project towards College Junction in Agbor.

‘The Igbo have no king, as the saying goes, and that absence of a central authority figure has allowed us to flourish in some ways while limiting us in others. Ohanaeze was meant to fill that void, to be the voice that speaks when the people cannot speak as one. But a voice that is silent when it should speak, that is absent when it should be present, that allows impostors to hijack its message without consequence, is a voice that is slowly strangling itself’ (Agbeze Ireke Kalu Onuma’s ‘Ohanaeze at 50,’ p. 236).

Introduction

A new Colonial Master looms large on the economic horizon of 21st Century Igboland. He is the militant Arab expansionist, hand in glove with the Islamist Nigeria, that captured the Ohaji/Egbema gas fields through the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, NMGP, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, AAGP. His resource terrorism against Ndigbo has been going on since 2016. Once completed, the pipeline will place the economy of Ndigbo in the hands of Morocco for as long as gas powers human civilisation. What has Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural group representing some 80 million Igbos, done to halt the construction of this illegal pipeline?

It is also instructive that in September 2026, days before Ndigbo gathered in Lagos to receive Agbeze Ireke Kalu Onuma’s major work, ‘Ohanaeze at 50: The Burden of Memory. The Politics of Relevance,’ overwhelmed Igbo traders in Lagos protested against the new Chinese economic conquistadors. Ohanaeze should have known a day would come when Asian retailers would enter Nigeria. The same traders demonstrating against the Chinese allowed Lebanese syndicates to operate gambling machines in Igbo markets targeting our apprentices (see my ‘The Igbo Apprentice Addicted to Gambling and Other Matters: Open Letter to Leaders of Igbo Traders’ Associations’).

In ‘Capitalist Nigger,’ Chika Onyeani warned us the economy was everything because an economically self-reliant black community could never be easily dominated politically. He forewarned Ohanaeze about how the Chinese Spider-Web Economic Doctrine operates: China would enter Nigeria, sell everything to Nigerians and buy nothing from Nigerians. In the past two decades, the powerful Lagos chapter of Ohanaeze did not address the possibility of Asians dislodging Igbo traders. Instead, it consumed itself with infighting. Asian retailers are here, and our response is carrying placards. That is weakness.

Ohanaeze appears not to understand the Igbo problem because it is still trapped in the post-bellum mindset of the 1970s. It lost the plot refusing to look at the global scene. Any discourse on Ohanaeze must avert intellectual foreclosure by looking at the big picture to understand the place of Ndigbo in the economic timetable of the 21st Century. Limiting ourselves to the actions and inactions of the association will ensnare one into the treadmill Ohanaeze found itself. Onuma escapes this trap by admitting the Igbo Diaspora in his argument. He also gives the Igbo economy the attention it deserves (Onuma: 387).

Understanding the Onuma Argument

Onuma examines the deployment of mechanics of power by the Ohanaeze leadership (human factor) and how the monolithic body became the elephant in the room (institutional failure). He believes the association suffers a crisis of legitimacy due to poor performance. Legitimacy is not a permanent certificate. It is renewable with every milestone covered. The moment Ohanaeze stops performing, it loses legitimacy before Ndigbo. It suffers a crisis of legitimacy because its elite leadership suffers from a survivalist complex; just as Ndigbo, especially young Igbos, it serves have their own resistance complex.

The founding fathers formed the association in 1976 as ‘a response to deep trauma. The founders were reacting to the anti-Igbo pogroms, the horror of the civil war, the dislocation and suffering that followed…. They preferred negotiation to confrontation, because survival required it’ (Onuma: 245). Their survivalist complex meant they ‘see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil’ in a hostile Nigeria if they must remain alive and serve Ndigbo. Their collective self-abnegation was typical of any marginalised group.

In ‘Souls of the Black Folk,’ W. E. B. Du Bois identified a survivalist complex in the emancipated Negro living in the racist southern part of the United States. He called this survivalist complex ‘patent defence,’ first noticed in the Medieval Jews living in anti-Semitic Europe. The marginalised Southern Negro resorted to flattery and deception to survive white racism. Onuma agrees with Du Bois on how a violent environment emasculates the individual. Such a victim is alienated as a mental exile. He is in an environment yet does not feel he belongs, as many young Igbos feel about Nigeria (Onuma: 203). The victim’s response is either acquiescence or resistance. For Igbos who experienced the war, their response is acquiescence conditioned by their survivalist Complex. But for the latter generations, their resistance complex aims to factionalise Ohanaeze or secede from Nigeria.

‘Deep trauma,’ ‘Igbo Psyche,’ ‘horror,’ ‘war,’ ‘dislocation’, and Suffering’ constitute a unique register indicating abnormal conditions. ‘Ohanaeze at 50’ engages Psychology of Oppression, defined as the abnormal behaviour oppression produces in the victim, consistent in Frantz Fanon’s ‘Black Skin, White Masks;’ Steve Biko’s ‘I Write What I Like’ and Onyeani’s ‘Capitalist Nigger.’ Fanon diagnosed the colonized did not aspire for self-liberation but to be assimilated into the white dominant culture. Biko saw the same syndrome in those blacks he called ‘non-whites,’ who aspired to be whites instead of being proud of their black identity. He reminded them that by trying to be whites, they were insulting the intelligence of God who created them blacks. Onyeani ridiculed those blacks prepared to pay any price to live among whites instead of fixing their degraded black neighbourhoods. Onuma sees the ambivalence in Ohanaeze appeasing the rabidly anti-Igbo establishment instead of confronting it.

Unlike Fanon and Biko, however, Onuma stops short of lampooning those Igbos who aspire to be Binis while repudiating their Igboness as a burden. Instead, he turns his attention to the fragmentation of the association and the resistance complex that produced such schism: ‘When nothing changes, when the suffering continues, when the roads are still bad, when the schools are still neglected, when the appointments still bypass the Southeast, people lose faith’ (Onuma: 245). Alienation forces impatient young Igbos to take their destiny into their own hands. Welcome to the factional Ohanaeze and separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

Onuma concedes that the two self-defeating mindsets/complexes put the association and Ndigbo under serious stress. It is like the proverbial falcon no longer hearing the falconer. He wonders if Ohanaeze is actually a socio-cultural entity, a political lobby group or what? This is because an amorphous Ohanaeze creates identity and audience problems for itself and Ndigbo:

Is Ohanaeze a cultural association that is inward-looking or a pressure group that is outward-looking? In the former, success is in the number of children who can speak Igbo, and in the latter, the number of policies positively influenced. If political broker success is in the number of appointments and contracts secured. Each role requires different structure, incentive, form and accountability. You can’t be all three without creating institutional contradiction and atrophy. Ohanaeze has tried to be all, only to end up being none’ (Onuma: 431).

Fear on the part of Ohanaeze leadership and anger on the part of its followership lead us to a deadlock: If Ohanaeze moves fast in ameliorating the Igbo condition as demanded by young Igbos, the suspicious Nigeria could proscribe it. But if it goes slowly about it not to alarm the establishment, Igbo youths could opt for factionalism, if not outright secession. Things are not helped, as Ohanaeze must not only remain a single entity but also keep Ndigbo in Nigeria. Failure could dent the Igbo man’s leadership credentials, a prospect the association can ill afford. Onuma’s solution, inter alia, is democratising the Igbo traditional philosophy of ‘ako-na-uche,’ or wisdom and intelligence, to make the association more responsive.

My point of divergence with Onuma is his aversion to factionalism. The author is against a parallel Ohanaeze even when elections are rigged and the constitution is violated. He favours an in-house arbitration mechanism like the Committee of Igbo Archbishops and Bishops on Peace and Conflict Resolution. The problem is that none take this committee seriously. Did former President-Generals Dr Joe Irukwu and Professor George Obiozor/successors respect episcopal arbitration in 2006 and 2023?

I conscientiously believe in the necessity of some form of counter-force to Ohanaeze if Ndigbo must see the light of the next fifty years. Socio-Cultural includes the economy, oil, gas, banking, Maritime, etc., which Ohanaeze is not addressing. The association was created to serve Ndigbo and not the other way round. The day it abdicates this crucial duty, or dallies when Igbo lives and properties are at risk, then Ndigbo must fashion out an alternative best suited for the challenge at hand.

My modest enquiry is to examine Onuma’s treatment of power within the context of Social Contract. He believes his reforms could set Ohanaeze on the true path of becoming the proactive entity envisaged by our founding fathers, namely, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Eze CC Nwuche (Ekpeye), Chief CD Orike (Ogba), Okogbule Wonodi (Ikwerre), Emmanuel Agwuma (Ikwerre), Obidike Nwonodi (Ikwerre), Francis Ellah (Ogba), Akanu Ibiam, Michael Okpara, Dr Obi Wali (Ikwerre), etc. Citations from the primary text are lifted from the soft copy version.

Mutable Reality Vs Immutable Ohanaeze

Ohanaeze could have been a solution in 1976 when it was established. But the same entity can be the new problem in 2026. This is because no condition is permanent. Professor Donald Nwoga reminded us that every reality changes not only within itself but from one form of reality to another. He simply meant that within five decades, the problem of Ndigbo in Nigeria not only changed in content but also in form. Onuma’s claim that the association suffers identity and audience problem must be understood within the ambit of a changing reality.

An ossified Ohanaeze, trapped in the 1970s political inclusion mindset, when the challenge today is economic terrorism, in my view, is a stumbling block. In this age of Information Revolution that heralds the social media, Ohanaeze has proven itself the elusive ‘Pater remotus,’ or remote father. It is nowhere seen; and when seen is silent. There is nothing like Ohanaeze for Ohanaeze’s sake. Any pragmatic measure within or without the association capable of serving the Igbo interests, I truly believe, must be considered.

I agree with the author’s presentation of the factors that coalesced to reduce Ohanaeze to an albatross. But when you apply deductive calculations to his solutions, you tend to see the same old Ohanaeze emerge at the end of his reforms- an inverted Ohanaeze populated by squabbling elites, patronage network specialists who benefit from the rot, the contractors, the fixers, the gatekeepers who have learned to profit from a weak and distant Ohanaeze (Onuma: 371).

Hotels and other public venues in Abuja have stepped up entry screening and hygiene measures amid heightened concerns over Ebola virus disease, as the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) prepares to host its 32nd summit in the Federal Capital Territory.

A visit by BusinessDay to some shopping centres and hotels in Abuja on Sunday showed that precautionary measures, including the use of face masks, hand sanitisers and temperature-checking equipment, were being deployed at some public facilities.

At Abuja Continental Hotel, attendants were observed wearing face masks and using hand sanitisers, while individuals entering event halls were subjected to checks.

The measures come as the NESG’s 32nd meeting is scheduled to begin on Monday, with a large number of participants expected to attend the summit.

The heightened vigilance also follows the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s (NCDC) disclosure that it had identified two additional suspected Ebola cases and 53 primary contacts linked to the outbreak response.

Jide Idris, director-general of the NCDC, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Sunday, saying public health authorities had established facilities for isolating and quarantining suspected cases where necessary.

‘We have established two additional suspected cases and 53 primary contact links. They are primary contacts. We have an isolation centre and a quarantine centre,’ Idris said.

He said about 12 public and private laboratories were available to test for Ebola, adding that the agency had strengthened its laboratory capacity to support prompt investigation and testing of suspected cases.

Idris said the NCDC was maintaining heightened surveillance and strengthening laboratory capacity to prevent further spread of the disease.

He also urged public and private healthcare facilities nationwide to strengthen screening, triage and infection prevention measures, while ensuring that healthcare workers had adequate personal protective equipment.

According to the agency, public health teams were identifying and monitoring people who might have been exposed to the confirmed case for 21 days after their last possible exposure.

Idris urged Nigerians contacted by public health officials to cooperate with contact-tracing teams and provide accurate information about their movements, contacts and symptoms.

The developments have raised questions about the preparedness of hotels, conference centres and other venues expected to receive large numbers of people, particularly as Abuja hosts major business and public events.

However, the Federal Government has also said there is no immediate need to cancel conferences, public gatherings, campaigns or other large events following the confirmation of an Ebola case in the FCT.

Muhammad Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, gave the assurance at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, saying the confirmed patient was reportedly showing signs of improvement.

‘At this moment, there is no indication that requires us to alter the course of large gatherings that have been planned,’ Pate said.

He added that the government would review its position if the situation changed, based on scientific evidence and advice from public health experts.

‘But if the situation changes, we’ll make a determination; we’ll consult broadly with the right experts and make that determination,’ he said.

The government’s position leaves public event organisers and venue operators responsible for maintaining appropriate precautions while health authorities continue surveillance and contact tracing.

For hotels, conference centres and other public facilities, measures such as screening, access control, hand hygiene and the availability of protective equipment can form part of efforts to reduce infection risks. Their effectiveness, however, depends on consistent implementation and adherence to public health guidance.

The NCDC has urged healthcare facilities to remain vigilant and members of the public to cooperate with health officials, while the government says any decision to restrict gatherings will depend on how the outbreak evolves.

Several persons who have worked closely with Nyesom Wike in the Niger Delta give insight, saying anytime he wants to contest for position, he innocuously floats a political group that would appear to work for the party he belongs to, but at the appropriate time, the group would spring fire and displace the parent party. So, the group would feed on the parent party and spring surprise when ready, and discard the carcass.

Blessing Nwikina, a man who served in the information womb of the Rivers State Government and worked with all governors and principal officers of the Brick House, pointed to a familiar body (GDI – Grassroots Democratic Initiative) Wike formed before 2015 with which he overthrew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State.

With GDI, the chairman, the chairman, became the chairman of the PDP while Wike replaced Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as governor, and has worked hard to keep Amaechi or his supporters out of power.

Nwikina, a well-known public commentator, writer, and former government media official, thinks history is about to repeat itself but this time at the national level.

He thus regretfully said: ‘It is just that we are a people who forget so easily. If you recall, when the buildup to the election of the minister, then as a governor, was around the corner, and then people were angry that he was forcing himself, another Ikwerre man, after Amaechi to become a governor. People were opposed to it.

‘Before then, he came up with a surreptitious group they called GDI, which later metamorphosed into the political bloc which he used to hijack the election then. It’s the same tactics which he wants to export to the national level, and they now call it Rainbow Coalition.’

The information expert and political analyst stated: ‘My own description of it is that it’s just the insincere strategy of someone who is used to fraudulent achievements and fraudulent tactics. If he was sincere, he could have declared his intention, and not to come under Rainbow Coalition to foster an underlying tool of his political ambition beyond 2031.

‘It’s unfortunate that the polity or the people do not see anything about a tactic that holds no promise. I mean, how can you foster lyrics over achievements? I don’t know what to point to in terms of either physical or doable achievement that you can say, ‘These are what he has achieved.’

He said election is not a war. ‘Elections are the decisions of people, or supposedly. But when you say election, ‘I will do election, I will win, I will’-that means you are insulting the people who vote because you’re trying to tell them that owning a PVC, going to the polling booths, and voting is a waste of time because. You are saying, ‘I already captured it.”

Rainbow as Wike’s brand:

Many say now that GDI has served its purpose and produced influential partners who have now joined Wike to move to the national level, this group has transformed to the Rainbow Coalition, but maintaining all its modus operandi.

Since Wike even while he was still governor fell in love with the rainbow concept, he began painting all his businesses in rainbow colour. Some of his fierce followers call him ‘high tension’. Soon, his chain of supermarkets began to be known as ‘Hypercity’, but with rainbow colours. From these businesses, observers get the message of power and coalition.

Wike’s friends and foe alike believe the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors were right to show fear over the intendments of the Rainbow Coalition post 2027.

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a chief and strong ally of both Amaechi and Atiku Abubakar, contributing to this inquiry, the APC Governors’ fear is very justified if people were to consider the brain and character behind the ‘Rainbow Coalition’, who he said has established himself as a deadly strategist and schemer.

He said: ‘Wike, not minding my different opinion about most of his political actions, is someone who pursues and commits whatever is at his disposal to accomplish his mission whether such a mission is right or not right.

‘Wike reasoning of setting up the Rainbow Coalition is nothing but to prepare for his 2031 presidential election; and whatever he needs to destroy or dismantle to achieve that makes no meaning to him.

‘In this regard, if it entails endangering the reelection of Bola Ahmed Tinubu or ensuring that most of the APC Governors are not reelected makes no meaning to him.’

Eze said the only person that seems to understand the danger that Wike portends is the President’s wife who he said has voiced out the danger that Wike’s Rainbow Coalition portends to the reelection of her husband.

‘Wike ensured that PDP, Nigeria’s most outstanding political party, is destroyed. So, what makes him not to destroy APC which he sees as a cancerous party.

‘It is too late to checkmate Wike as he has vowed to see that most of the Governors are not reelected.

‘If Wike’s 20231 election bid is to be truncated, it is for Nigerians to ensure that Tinubu is not reelected to save Nigeria, not necessarily about Tinubu’s evil plots against Nigeria and Nigerians with his proposed taxes and undemocratic laws to accomplish his third term agenda but save Nigeria from being sold off by Wike if he is to succeed him in 2031.’

The north may match him money for money: Atoivgba, middle-belt voice:

Pockets will decide:

Garshagu Atovigba, an associate Professor of Mathematics Education from the Moses Orshio Adasu University of Makurdi (MOAUM), in his contribution as a onetime editor and publisher and now a lecturer, also believes that Rainbow Coalition is a pet project to upstage the ruling party and the major opposition parties to emerge as the next power force for Aso Rock.

He told BusinessDay: ‘Whether Rainbow Coalition may make impact at 2027 and 2031 elections? That depends on the size of their pocket and whether they will remain cohesive up to 2027 and 2031 elections.

‘If Tinubu believes in them and grants them enough funds they shall definitely pull the strings for him at 2027 polls. Because elections hinge much on resources in the hands of stakeholders especially local opinion leaders of which the Wike group are opinion leaders in their localities.’

Atovigba did not factor Wike’s deep pocket and his years of accumulation plus his control of Rivers State and Abuja.

The professor went on to say: ‘Rainbow Coalition may succeed if they remain cohesive at 2027 elections by fixing Tinubu reelected and possibly winning some state governorship seats. The idea is to survive at state levels and to control resources of the states of individual members of the coalition.

‘Control of resources is at the heart of politics in all societies. At federal level the coalition can easily succeed in having Tinubu elected if Tinubu releases enough funds for them to do what the president is aspiring for. Nigerian electorate hardly vote candidates owing to their merits but what local influencers tell them. The coalition members are local influencers in their localities. But is the coalition found in each state of Nigeria? No. They are not much available in most northern states.

‘First, Kwankwaso still controls Kano which stakes second highest registered voters. Second, 19 northern state governors have been pooling N2b or N38b monthly under the toga of security funds. But security toga is an alibi for what those govs would do both at 2027 and 2031. If 19 northern govs unanimously support Tinubu then Tinubu automatically gets reelected.

‘Their N38b monthly times six years would pool N2.592 trillion by 2031 and that will be enough funds to field one of them as the next president of Nigeria in 2031. They will overwhelm the rainbow coalition in 2031. Thus, in summary the 19 northern governors are a threat to the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition both at 2027 and 2031 presidential and governorship elections.’

Oby Ndukwe: APC governors should definitely be threatened

Another strong political observer who knows Rivers politics inside out, having worked closely with or under most principal actors is Oby Ndukwe, a journalist, publisher, analyst, and multi-tasking expert.

In her considered opinion, the Rainbow Coalition may not become the nucleus of the next powerful national ruling party. She thinks the APC is very strong, and the ADC too, not minding that the ADC would have to prove in January that it is the biggest opposition party. She thinks this would be determined by the number of seats in the National Assembly, the states and the local the State Assemblies, and then of course their performance if they manage to win.

She thinks the Rainbow Coalition may even turn out to be the next biggest opposition movement against the ADC (if the ADC or NDC wins).

Ndukwe, also called the Media FBI because her uncanny insight into most camps in the Niger Delta and Abuja, said she is still watching the Rainbow Coalition to see if they’re going to have a structure where they begin to hold meetings outside the PDP thing or outside the APC.

‘You also need to look at the strength that they need to bring to bear. I mean, Wike is strong. He’s a minister, and if the APC wins the next election, we also wait to see where the President will assign him. That also will determine the strength of the party, because let me tell you, a lot of funds is needed for you to finance a movement. That was why even Tinubu, with all his wealth, couldn’t finance that massive movement that later metamorphosed into APC. He still brought in Muhammadu Buhari because he knew that Buhari had the people even if he didn’t have the money. Gradually, they brought in some others from the nPDP, APGA, CPC, ANPP.’

APC’s fears:

Ndukwe, who began as publisher of the BEAM, agreed that the APC governors were justified to show fears about what Rainbow Coalition may turn out to be after 2027 into 2031. ‘Every politician, particularly those with ambitions, will definitely be threatened.

‘Let me be frank with you, the internal issues or crises within the ruling party and then also from those who are not in APC, but are supporting President Tinubu, it’s all about 2031. That is the truth. Anyone who’s succeeds to hold the structure is likely going to be considered as a running mate to whoever will emerge from the north in 2031.

‘That is if APC wins the election in 2027. So, their fears are germane. That is the truth of the matter. I’m not going to pretend, because I’m not working for anybody. I’m not on anybody’s pay roll, so I have to speak the truth the way it is. Let me tell you, the likes of Hope Uzodinma, the likes of Charles Soludo, the likes of Peter Mbah of Enugu State, the likes of Adams Oshiomhole, the likes of Dave Umahi, and the likes of Wike and Soludo (who are not in the APC), these guys all have their eyes on 2031.’

She said it’s not all about Tinubu’s re-election but about 2031. ‘They are commonly bound on that project, that is the truth. And everyone believes that, ‘If I can do well, if I can deliver, I could get the endorsement of the president, you know, for 2031.’ That is what you’re seeing.

‘That is why Hope Uzodinma is going to forego eight months of his governorship to run for Senate and probably emerge as the Senate President. Even where he does not emerge as the Senate President, he still wants to be in the Senate because he believes probably he will have an advantage. I mean, something can happen and there will be shifting in the National Assembly that could favour him. So, he’s trying to position himself. But the truth is that, as a governor, you’re equally powerful.’

She went on: ‘Let me tell you, because his election is going to be off-cycle, his fears are that by the time his tenure ends, he will not have that power or that push to fight for the Presidency when the time would come.

So, he needs to be in the Senate for the next three years to four, so that it will give him a kind of comfortable cruise to the battle for 2031. Peter Mbah of Enugu State also has his own calculations. He has joined the APC.’

What Wike wants:

Could it be that Wike has convinced himself that he would hardly be allowed to get the slot of vice president in the APC (he is not even a member) as the PDP is a no-go area?

The media FBI vouched: ‘Beyond that, Wike’s intention is to position himself for the 2031 Vice President slot. We know these things. We’re in touch, we are field people, we are connected. I come from the South East and I live in the South-South, and I can tell you that I know politics in the two regions the way I know the back of my hand. I mean, I can tell you that that is the first ambition for Peter Mbah. That’s it, that’s why he’s there. Now, you look at Dave Umahi. He’s doing everything possible to please the President with all the coastal road, all the Abuja-Kano Road, all the infrastructure projects here and there and kind of taking the heat off the government and all that.

‘Of course, he wants to be compensated with the ticket, running mate to whoever that will emerge as the presidential candidate from the North.’

She said Soludo of APGA has also made his own political calculations about the limitations of APGA and the fate of his predecessors (Obi, Obiano). Now, you can see that Obiano is neither here nor there. APGA has not been able to really favor those who served with it.

She said it’s all about a South-East vice president in 2031 and hopes of an eventual presidential candidate thereafter.

‘So, that’s basically what they are looking at. I don’t also want to rule out Alex Otti, even though he has said he just wants to finish as governor and go. Then, look at Nyesom Wike. You think that Wike will just finish all that he’s done and then just retire like that, a young man? No, I don’t see that. He has not also shown that, so I believe strongly that he is also positioning.

‘And that is where the fear comes in, because having a powerful structure as the Rainbow Coalition, though not a registered political party, but it could be tomorrow. It could be, because I don’t know whether PDP will survive from the ashes. So, it’s possible, and then I don’t also see Nigerians really believing in PDP anymore. So, Wike could just form this coalition and it will translate to something bigger.

Wike, a disruptive political thinker: Oby

Ndukwe went on: ‘Already, like I said, it’s spreading to very many states, even though there’s not been any evidence that he has those structures. It’s just that people are beginning to borrow the template and give him the credit. He, I mean, is the convener, and that’s why I said he’s also a disruptive political thinker-not a destructive, get me, a disruptive thinker. That is somebody who thinks outside the box; and that is Wike.’

So, she said, some of the governors in the APC are actually scared that these things may affect whatever plans they have. ‘But I think the bottom line is if President Tinubu wins in 2027, and then maybe endorses somebody as presidential candidate, and then somebody else as running mate. But these things are speculative, ‘All things being equal, ceteris paribus.’ So for me, what should be paramount to them is to ensure that the APC wins and remains in power before you begin to talk about what next. Because in my place, they say you have to struggle for space first before you start struggling for the mat that you’re going to put on the space to lie down.’

Conclusion: Rainbow Coalition, the next biggest thing:

Ndukwe rounded her thoughts up by positing that the Rainbow is the next biggest thing, if it survives in the 2027 elections. ‘So, I think Wike has started off well. Maybe he didn’t even know that it will grow this big, I’m sure. And so if we all have to wait to see what he wants to do, and then like I said, the fears of those APC governors are also germane because they also have almost the same ambition that Wike has. Everybody is eyeing 2031.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) to deepen capital market participation, strengthen professional capacity and promote financial literacy among Nigerians.

Governor Sanwo-Olu gave the charge on Friday during a courtesy visit by the principal officers of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, led by its President and Chairman of Council, Fiona Ahimie, at Lagos House, Ikeja.

He noted that Nigeria’s capital market has recorded significant growth in recent years, commending professionals and investors for their contributions to the development of the sector.

Governor Sanwo-Olu stressed the need to deepen the market through increased public awareness, financial literacy and broader participation, particularly among Nigerians who may not fully understand the opportunities available.

He observed that many people are not familiar with investment opportunities beyond their daily financial needs, calling for deliberate efforts to educate the public on savings, investment and wealth creation.

The governor, who pledged his administration’s support for the CIS, expressed support for initiatives aimed at expanding financial literacy and developing more professionals to strengthen the capital market.

Governor Sanwo-Olu congratulated Ahimie on her emergence as the first female President of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, describing her appointment as a significant milestone for the professional body.

He expressed confidence in her leadership, urging the new Council to sustain the Institute’s achievements while advancing professionalism, public engagement and capacity development within the capital market.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said Lagos remains committed to supporting professional institutions and economic activities capable of promoting investment, creating jobs and improving opportunities for residents.

He also highlighted the importance of professional expertise in governance, noting that collaboration between public and private sector practitioners could improve institutional effectiveness and strategic development.

Speaking earlier, the President and Chairman of Council of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Fiona Ahimie, congratulated Governor Sanwo-Olu on his association with the Institute, noting that his professional background and experience in public service made the engagement particularly significant.

Ahimie said the Institute’s annual conference, scheduled for November 4 and 5 in Lagos, would provide an opportunity to discuss the development of Nigeria’s capital market and the need to expand financial literacy and investment participation.

She noted that the Institute is collaborating with the Office of the Vice President on initiatives to train 10 million Nigerians in financial literacy and capital market participation.

According to her, the programme is expected to improve public understanding of investment opportunities and encourage more Nigerians, particularly young people, to participate in the capital market.

Ahimie also disclosed that the Institute is working towards establishing a N5 billion endowment fund to support capacity development and professional training.

The visit by the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers’ leadership underscored the importance of collaboration between the Lagos State Government and professional institutions in advancing financial literacy, investment awareness and economic development.

‘The Igbo have no king, as the saying goes, and that absence of a central authority figure has allowed us to flourish in some ways while limiting us in others. Ohanaeze was meant to fill that void, to be the voice that speaks when the people cannot speak as one. But a voice that is silent when it should speak, that is absent when it should be present, that allows impostors to hijack its message without consequence, is a voice that is slowly strangling itself’ (Agbeze Ireke Kalu Onuma’s ‘Ohanaeze at 50,’ p. 236).

Introduction

A new Colonial Master looms large on the economic horizon of 21st Century Igboland. He is the militant Arab expansionist, hand in glove with the Islamist Nigeria, that captured the Ohaji/Egbema gas fields through the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, NMGP, also known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline, AAGP. His resource terrorism against Ndigbo has been going on since 2016. Once completed, the pipeline will place the economy of Ndigbo in the hands of Morocco for as long as gas powers human civilisation. What has Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the apex socio-cultural group representing some 80 million Igbos, done to halt the construction of this illegal pipeline?

It is also instructive that in September 2026, days before Ndigbo gathered in Lagos to receive Agbeze Ireke Kalu Onuma’s major work, ‘Ohanaeze at 50: The Burden of Memory. The Politics of Relevance,’ overwhelmed Igbo traders in Lagos protested against the new Chinese economic conquistadors. Ohanaeze should have known a day would come when Asian retailers would enter Nigeria. The same traders demonstrating against the Chinese allowed Lebanese syndicates to operate gambling machines in Igbo markets targeting our apprentices (see my ‘The Igbo Apprentice Addicted to Gambling and Other Matters: Open Letter to Leaders of Igbo Traders’ Associations’).

In ‘Capitalist Nigger,’ Chika Onyeani warned us the economy was everything because an economically self-reliant black community could never be easily dominated politically. He forewarned Ohanaeze about how the Chinese Spider-Web Economic Doctrine operates: China would enter Nigeria, sell everything to Nigerians and buy nothing from Nigerians. In the past two decades, the powerful Lagos chapter of Ohanaeze did not address the possibility of Asians dislodging Igbo traders. Instead, it consumed itself with infighting. Asian retailers are here, and our response is carrying placards. That is weakness.

Ohanaeze appears not to understand the Igbo problem because it is still trapped in the post-bellum mindset of the 1970s. It lost the plot refusing to look at the global scene. Any discourse on Ohanaeze must avert intellectual foreclosure by looking at the big picture to understand the place of Ndigbo in the economic timetable of the 21st Century. Limiting ourselves to the actions and inactions of the association will ensnare one into the treadmill Ohanaeze found itself. Onuma escapes this trap by admitting the Igbo Diaspora in his argument. He also gives the Igbo economy the attention it deserves (Onuma: 387).

Understanding the Onuma Argument

Onuma examines the deployment of mechanics of power by the Ohanaeze leadership (human factor) and how the monolithic body became the elephant in the room (institutional failure). He believes the association suffers a crisis of legitimacy due to poor performance. Legitimacy is not a permanent certificate. It is renewable with every milestone covered. The moment Ohanaeze stops performing, it loses legitimacy before Ndigbo. It suffers a crisis of legitimacy because its elite leadership suffers from a survivalist complex; just as Ndigbo, especially young Igbos, it serves have their own resistance complex.

The founding fathers formed the association in 1976 as ‘a response to deep trauma. The founders were reacting to the anti-Igbo pogroms, the horror of the civil war, the dislocation and suffering that followed…. They preferred negotiation to confrontation, because survival required it’ (Onuma: 245). Their survivalist complex meant they ‘see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil’ in a hostile Nigeria if they must remain alive and serve Ndigbo. Their collective self-abnegation was typical of any marginalised group.

In ‘Souls of the Black Folk,’ W. E. B. Du Bois identified a survivalist complex in the emancipated Negro living in the racist southern part of the United States. He called this survivalist complex ‘patent defence,’ first noticed in the Medieval Jews living in anti-Semitic Europe. The marginalised Southern Negro resorted to flattery and deception to survive white racism. Onuma agrees with Du Bois on how a violent environment emasculates the individual. Such a victim is alienated as a mental exile. He is in an environment yet does not feel he belongs, as many young Igbos feel about Nigeria (Onuma: 203). The victim’s response is either acquiescence or resistance. For Igbos who experienced the war, their response is acquiescence conditioned by their survivalist Complex. But for the latter generations, their resistance complex aims to factionalise Ohanaeze or secede from Nigeria.

‘Deep trauma,’ ‘Igbo Psyche,’ ‘horror,’ ‘war,’ ‘dislocation’, and Suffering’ constitute a unique register indicating abnormal conditions. ‘Ohanaeze at 50’ engages Psychology of Oppression, defined as the abnormal behaviour oppression produces in the victim, consistent in Frantz Fanon’s ‘Black Skin, White Masks;’ Steve Biko’s ‘I Write What I Like’ and Onyeani’s ‘Capitalist Nigger.’ Fanon diagnosed the colonized did not aspire for self-liberation but to be assimilated into the white dominant culture. Biko saw the same syndrome in those blacks he called ‘non-whites,’ who aspired to be whites instead of being proud of their black identity. He reminded them that by trying to be whites, they were insulting the intelligence of God who created them blacks. Onyeani ridiculed those blacks prepared to pay any price to live among whites instead of fixing their degraded black neighbourhoods. Onuma sees the ambivalence in Ohanaeze appeasing the rabidly anti-Igbo establishment instead of confronting it.

Unlike Fanon and Biko, however, Onuma stops short of lampooning those Igbos who aspire to be Binis while repudiating their Igboness as a burden. Instead, he turns his attention to the fragmentation of the association and the resistance complex that produced such schism: ‘When nothing changes, when the suffering continues, when the roads are still bad, when the schools are still neglected, when the appointments still bypass the Southeast, people lose faith’ (Onuma: 245). Alienation forces impatient young Igbos to take their destiny into their own hands. Welcome to the factional Ohanaeze and separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

Onuma concedes that the two self-defeating mindsets/complexes put the association and Ndigbo under serious stress. It is like the proverbial falcon no longer hearing the falconer. He wonders if Ohanaeze is actually a socio-cultural entity, a political lobby group or what? This is because an amorphous Ohanaeze creates identity and audience problems for itself and Ndigbo:

Is Ohanaeze a cultural association that is inward-looking or a pressure group that is outward-looking? In the former, success is in the number of children who can speak Igbo, and in the latter, the number of policies positively influenced. If political broker success is in the number of appointments and contracts secured. Each role requires different structure, incentive, form and accountability. You can’t be all three without creating institutional contradiction and atrophy. Ohanaeze has tried to be all, only to end up being none’ (Onuma: 431).

Fear on the part of Ohanaeze leadership and anger on the part of its followership lead us to a deadlock: If Ohanaeze moves fast in ameliorating the Igbo condition as demanded by young Igbos, the suspicious Nigeria could proscribe it. But if it goes slowly about it not to alarm the establishment, Igbo youths could opt for factionalism, if not outright secession. Things are not helped, as Ohanaeze must not only remain a single entity but also keep Ndigbo in Nigeria. Failure could dent the Igbo man’s leadership credentials, a prospect the association can ill afford. Onuma’s solution, inter alia, is democratising the Igbo traditional philosophy of ‘ako-na-uche,’ or wisdom and intelligence, to make the association more responsive.

My point of divergence with Onuma is his aversion to factionalism. The author is against a parallel Ohanaeze even when elections are rigged and the constitution is violated. He favours an in-house arbitration mechanism like the Committee of Igbo Archbishops and Bishops on Peace and Conflict Resolution. The problem is that none take this committee seriously. Did former President-Generals Dr Joe Irukwu and Professor George Obiozor/successors respect episcopal arbitration in 2006 and 2023?

I conscientiously believe in the necessity of some form of counter-force to Ohanaeze if Ndigbo must see the light of the next fifty years. Socio-Cultural includes the economy, oil, gas, banking, Maritime, etc., which Ohanaeze is not addressing. The association was created to serve Ndigbo and not the other way round. The day it abdicates this crucial duty, or dallies when Igbo lives and properties are at risk, then Ndigbo must fashion out an alternative best suited for the challenge at hand.

My modest enquiry is to examine Onuma’s treatment of power within the context of Social Contract. He believes his reforms could set Ohanaeze on the true path of becoming the proactive entity envisaged by our founding fathers, namely, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Eze CC Nwuche (Ekpeye), Chief CD Orike (Ogba), Okogbule Wonodi (Ikwerre), Emmanuel Agwuma (Ikwerre), Obidike Nwonodi (Ikwerre), Francis Ellah (Ogba), Akanu Ibiam, Michael Okpara, Dr Obi Wali (Ikwerre), etc. Citations from the primary text are lifted from the soft copy version.

Mutable Reality Vs Immutable Ohanaeze

Ohanaeze could have been a solution in 1976 when it was established. But the same entity can be the new problem in 2026. This is because no condition is permanent. Professor Donald Nwoga reminded us that every reality changes not only within itself but from one form of reality to another. He simply meant that within five decades, the problem of Ndigbo in Nigeria not only changed in content but also in form. Onuma’s claim that the association suffers identity and audience problem must be understood within the ambit of a changing reality.

An ossified Ohanaeze, trapped in the 1970s political inclusion mindset, when the challenge today is economic terrorism, in my view, is a stumbling block. In this age of Information Revolution that heralds the social media, Ohanaeze has proven itself the elusive ‘Pater remotus,’ or remote father. It is nowhere seen; and when seen is silent. There is nothing like Ohanaeze for Ohanaeze’s sake. Any pragmatic measure within or without the association capable of serving the Igbo interests, I truly believe, must be considered.

I agree with the author’s presentation of the factors that coalesced to reduce Ohanaeze to an albatross. But when you apply deductive calculations to his solutions, you tend to see the same old Ohanaeze emerge at the end of his reforms- an inverted Ohanaeze populated by squabbling elites, patronage network specialists who benefit from the rot, the contractors, the fixers, the gatekeepers who have learned to profit from a weak and distant Ohanaeze (Onuma: 371).

Kylian Mbappé scored twice as Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 in Sunday’s El Clásico at Camp Nou, handing the La Liga leaders their first league defeat of the season and cutting the gap at the top of the table.

Mbappé opened the scoring four minutes before half-time and netted a late winner in the 87th minute after Raphinha equalised for the defending champions.

The result ended Barcelona’s unbeaten start to the La Liga campaign and handed them a second consecutive defeat following Tuesday’s loss to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League.

Barcelona remain top of the table on 27 points after 10 matches, with a two-point advantage over second-placed Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid sit third, one point behind Atletico.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho praised his team’s discipline and composure in his first El Clásico back in charge of the club.

‘My team had an extraordinary game, very organised, good concentration, with courage to play out from the back against a team that presses you a lot,’ Mourinho told reporters.

‘We had chances for the second goal. Obviously, Barcelona had a strong reaction, but we were calm and organised, and at 1-1 we never lost our tranquillity.’

Barcelona had won six of the previous seven El Clásico encounters since Hansi Flick took charge, but struggled to impose themselves against Mourinho’s side.

‘You saw today, we lacked freshness,’ Flick said.

‘It’s the first defeat in La Liga. We won nine in a row. This is what we have to see.

‘Defeats are a part of the game. We have to analyse; we have to make things better. Now we must make a reaction.’

Real Madrid, who were without suspended forward Vinicius Junior, secured their fifth consecutive victory across all competitions, strengthening their early-season momentum under the veteran Portuguese coach.

After two trophyless seasons, Real Madrid turned to Mourinho to halt Barcelona’s dominance, and Sunday’s result offered encouragement that the team is moving in the right direction.

Salisu Ogbo Usman, vice-chancellor of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, has stated that effective science teaching requires more than transmission of facts or memorisation of the theories, saying activity-based learning, inquiry, experimentation, laboratory practices ant the appropriate of technology can help students develop curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and practical skills.

Ogbo stated this during the 30th inaugural Lecture themed ‘Monkey de work Baboon de Chop’

has described the 30th Inaugural Lecture as a reaffirmation of the University’s commitment to rigorous scholarship, intellectual engagement, the preservation of knowledge and the application of research to societal advancement.

Usman described the topic as timely and significant, noting that science education is central to a society’s ability to develop, innovate, solve problems and compete in an increasingly knowledge -driven world.

He explained that the manner in which science is taught influences how learners think, investigate problems and acquire the competencies required to contribute to the future development of the nation, noting that the lecture drew attention to the challenges confronting teachers and researchers who develop and implement innovative teaching methods, often in the face of limited resources, inadequate institutional support and insufficient recognition.

He noted that the implications of science education extend beyond the classroom, as the quality of education influences a society’s capacity to respond to challenges in health, agriculture, engineering, technology, environmental sustainability and industrial development.

Ogbo equally congratulated Achimugu on the academic milestone and commended his contributions to teaching, research, mentorship and educational leadership.

He also expressed appreciation to the Chairman and members of the Inaugural Lecture Committee for their dedication, diligence and careful planning in organising the event.

The lecture attracted members of the University community and other invited guests who gathered to celebrate scholarship and reflect on the challenges and prospects of improving science education through effective teaching methods.

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, has expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work at the Creek Road Market in Port Harcourt, assuring that it will be completed by January 2027.

A statement by Onwuka Nzeshi, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, on Friday said Fubara stated this on Friday during an inspection visit to the project site.

Fubara said the visit was prompted by his meeting with SETRACO, the construction firm, handling the resurfacing of roads in the old Port Harcourt Township.

He said SETRACO had identified the Creek Road axis as a major cause of delay in its road rehabilitation works, as traders have virtually taken over the road, making it difficult for the contractor to work.

The governor noted that relocating the traders to the new market remained the only solution to freeing the road for the resurfacing work to be done successfully.

Despite the challenges encountered since the commencement of the project, Fubara said he was impressed with what he saw on site, commending the contractor for the quality of the job done so far.

He disclosed that the first phase of the market comprises about 700 stalls and shops, covering both wet and dry sections, which he said is sufficient to accommodate most of the women trading along Creek Road and ultimately restore free flow of traffic along the route.

The governor assured the contractor handling the market project that the State Government will play its part to ensure the project continues as agreed, including addressing the issue of funding in order to guarantee its timely delivery.

Speaking on the benefits of the market, Fubara said the project goes beyond providing trading spaces, as it is also aimed at restoring sanity, decency and a healthy environment in the Old Port Harcourt Township, which he described as home to many aged people and ‘aborigines’ of the city.

He lamented that the situation of the old market forced traders onto the streets, turning the Creek Road and adjoining streets into an open market.

Governor Fubara observed that the current situation of trading along the streets could create serious environmental and health hazards, noting that many diseases are caused by overcrowding, dirt and uncleanliness.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to improving the health and well-being of Rivers people, stressing that he is happy not just as head of the current administration, but as a citizen of the State to see a project that will return the old Port Harcourt Township to its cherished status as a clean and orderly city.