Category: Nigerian Tribune

Temitope Chigbue, popularly known as Temi Nkem, has been declared the winner of Season 11 of the Big Brother Naija reality television show, themed ‘Show ya sef’, while Aikuo emerged as the first runner-up.

The show host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, announced Temi Nkem as the winner on Sunday after she secured the highest number of votes in the final week.

She defeated fellow finalists Aikuo, Sheba, Bluethopia, Tram to claim the ?160 million grand prize in the ‘Show ya sef’ edition of the reality show.

A total of 24 housemates participated in the show, which premiered on July 26 2026.

Temi Nkem has now become the fifth female housemate to win the show.

She joins the exclusive list of past winners of the reality television show, namely Katung Aduwak, Efe Ejeba, Miracle Igbokwe, Mercy Eke, Olamilekan Agbeleshebioba (Laycon), Hazel Oyeze Onou (Whitemoney), Ijeoma Josephina Otabor (Phyna), Ilebaye Odiniya, Kingsley Sule (Kellyrae) Opeyemi Ayanwale (Imisi) of Seasons 1-10, respectively.

Season 11 of the reality show, which ran for 72 days, was hosted by Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, who returned as the show’s host for the ninth consecutive time.

Nollywood actress, Nkechi Blessing Sunday, appears to have quickly moved past her celebrity boxing defeat to reality star, Phyna, insisting that the loss will not define her.

The actress was stopped by Phyna in the fourth and final round of their much-publicised bout at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, last Thursday.

Rather than dwell on the defeat, Nkechi took to social media to celebrate her courage for stepping into the ring, declaring herself ‘still a champion regardless of the result.’

She then signalled her return to her familiar territory, Nollywood.

‘Now let’s go back to making movies cus I no be boxer,’ she said.

The actress revealed that she had trained for only two days before the fight, while Phyna had prepared for more than two weeks. Despite the disparity in preparation, Nkechi said she entered the ring as a warrior, describing the experience as one that tested her courage.

The bout also carried an emotional significance for the actress, who dedicated her participation to her late mother, Gloria Obasi Sunday.

According to Nkechi, she specifically requested her mother’s favourite song to be played before she entered the ring because she wanted her mother to be part of the moment.

‘Mummy, were you watching? Did you also hear when they played your favourite song? I wanted you around; that was why I asked for that song,’ she wrote.

Although Phyna walked away with the victory, including a reported ?50 million prize and a car, Nkechi’s post-fight reaction suggests she has chosen to take the experience in her stride.

Interestingly, when asked if she would consider another boxing bout, the actress answered in the affirmative.

For now, however, Nkechi Blessing appears ready to leave the gloves behind and return to the movie sets,proving that, in her words, ‘I no be boxer.’

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called for transparency and accountability in the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Atiku, in a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of ADC Presidential Campaign Council, demanded full disclosure of N11.2 trillion recorded by NNPCL as receivables from Federation for advances and costs that include protection of oil and gas assets.

He said Nigerians deserve to know how much of amount went to pipeline security, beneficiaries, and results achieved.

‘NNPC’s 2024 accounts recorded roughly N17.5 trillion across different claims on the Federation, including petrol under-recovery and other receivables linked to advances and asset protection. Its 2025 accounts now show approximately N11.2 trillion in other receivables from the Federation. Nigerians cannot tell from these totals what was spent on pipeline surveillance. What was paid? Who was paid? For what work? Where are the results?’ he queried.

Atiku said there is need to compare N11.2 trillion receivables with N3.1 trillion allocated to Ministry of Defence in 2025, noting that while figures belong to different accounting categories, contrast raises questions about government priorities.

He also called on Federal Government to publish details of pipeline security contracts and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract, including procurement process, competing bids, evaluation and contract documents.

Atiku further asked government to disclose whether contractors handling federal projects have contributed to President’s re-election activities.

He said the administration should empathize with Nigerians over socioeconomic challenges and provide clear accounting of public funds.

‘Government asking families to make sacrifices must be willing to account for every naira it claims on public purse,’ he said.

Atiku said ADC will focus on making life more affordable for Nigerians if elected in 2027.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been charged to direct an immediate investigation into more than ?94.4 billion in petroleum-sector funds allegedly diverted, unremitted, unaccounted for or irregularly spent.

The charge came from a Lagos-based rights group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), through its letter dated October 3, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and addressed to the president.

SERAP arrived at the call consequent upon findings contained in the 2024 Volume 2 Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation, published on August 7, 2026.

The human rights organisation declared that the audit findings cover various periods between January 2023 and December 31, 2024, and raise concerns about the management of petroleum revenues, natural gas sales proceeds and gas-flaring penalties by the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

SERAP also urged President Tinubu to order relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate the findings and prosecute anyone found culpable where sufficient admissible evidence is established.

The group further demanded the recovery and remittance to the Treasury of all public funds found to have been improperly withheld, diverted, misapplied or otherwise unaccounted for.

SERAP said the Auditor-General reported that the MDGIF failed to remit ?26.549 billion in revenue from the sale of petroleum products between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024.

According to the anti-corruption group, the Auditor-General had reportedly expressed concern that the money may have been diverted and recommended its recovery and remittance to the Treasury.

SERAP referenced ?12.480 billion in gas-flaring penalties for 2023, which the MDGIF allegedly failed to remit and report.

In the audit findings cited by SERAP, the NUPRC equally allegedly failed to remit ?38.610 billion in gas-flaring penalties collected and due to the MDGIF.

Another ?12.940 billion in revenue from 2024 natural gas sales, according to SERAP, was allegedly not collected and accounted for by the MDGIF.

The human rights group further referenced ?3.518 billion reportedly paid by the MDGIF to a consultant to recover gas-flaring penalties without presidential approval, adding that the Auditor-General allegedly found no evidence of due process or due diligence in the engagement and expressed concern that the funds may have been diverted.

The findings as contained in the audit report equally included ?261.852 million allegedly spent on Transaction Advisors without evidence of work executed, as well as another ?65.8 million paid to Transaction Advisors in August 2024 in circumstances the Auditor-General said may have violated public procurement procedures.

The amounts cited by SERAP total approximately ?94.4 billion.

The human rights group prayed to President Tinubu to direct the MDGIF to submit and publish its audited financial statements for 2022, 2023 and 2024 and ensure that the documents are forwarded to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly.

SERAP requested that the MDGIF and NUPRC should also publish a clear schedule showing the amounts due, collected, remitted and recovered, including the dates of transactions, institutions, or officials responsible and the accounts into which the funds were paid.

The organisation insisted that every naira identified in the Auditor-General’s report should be properly accounted for, just as it argued that the alleged failure to account for petroleum-product revenues, natural-gas sales revenues and gas-flaring penalties could undermine public confidence in the management of Nigeria’s petroleum resources.

SERAP warned that unremitted gas-flaring penalties could affect funds available for environmental remediation and create risks for communities affected by environmental hazards.

The group tasked the President Tinubu-led Federal Government to implement the recommended measures within seven days of receiving or publishing the letter.

SERAP issued a warning that failure to receive a response within the period could lead it to consider legal action and other lawful measures to compel the government, MDGIF, NUPRC and other relevant authorities to act.

The rights group further invoked provisions of the 1999 Constitution, including Section 15(5), which requires the State to abolish corrupt practices and abuse of power.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted a Milan-bound businessman, Philip Tunde, with 4.80 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travel bags at the Lagos International Airport.

The 38-year-old suspect was arrested on 27th September, 2026 at the joint screening point, Terminal 2 of the Lagos airport ahead of his Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy.

A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi on Sunday said, a thorough search by NDLEA operatives led to the recovery of 16 parcels of white powdery substance hidden in the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, plus 195 wraps of same substance concealed in the railings of four travelling bags.

The substances, according to the statement, tested positive for cocaine, with a combined weight of 4.80kg.

During interview, the suspect claimed he paid N16 million in cash for the cocaine in the shoes, while the consignment in the bags was meant for delivery to his partner in Italy. He said he raised the money from compensation paid him for an injury at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy, in which he lost the tips of two fingers.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa, Tincan Island and Onne seaports have intercepted container consignments of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis and codeine-based syrup worth over N5 billion, following months of intelligence and tracking the movement of the shipments from their ports of origin.

At the Apapa port in Lagos, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence, subjected two containers from Bangkok, Thailand, to 100 per cent examination with men of Customs and other stakeholders. A search of one of the containers on Saturday, yielded 161 parcels of Thai Loud weighing 124kg, worth N372,000,000, concealed in two refrigerators and two cartons.

At the Onne port in Rivers state, two containers watch-listed by NDLEA based on processed intelligence were subjected to joint examination with Customs and other security agencies, during which 40 packs of Loud weighing 22kg were found hidden in a travelling bag and three of five vehicles (Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra) shipped in one of the containers, while the second container held 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg.

The container had left India to Saudi Arabia where the history of its origin was deleted, to avoid being targeted. The codeine and Loud consignments have a combined street value of N833,200,000.

At the Tincan Island port in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on 29th September conducted a joint examination of a watch-listed container from Montreal, Canada with Customs and other stakeholders. As a result, a total of 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg, were found concealed in a Toyota Sienna and a Hyundai Elantra, with 24 blue drums and six jumbo bags in the container. The consignment was worth over N3.8 billion in street value.

A total of 20,234 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on 8.0936 hectares of cannabis farm in Area 4, Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State on 30th September by NDLEA operatives, while a suspect, Agbo Dennis was arrested on 29th September 2026 at the West of Mines area of Jos North, Plateau State, following the seizure of 33 bags of skunk weighing 385kg.

In Lagos state, NDLEA operatives on 28th September raided an unoccupied compound at Divine Estate, Ago Palace, where they recovered 209,000 tablets of tramadol, while a 23-year-old Ekundayo Taiwo, was nabbed on 30th September in a follow-up operation at Ladipo Spare Parts Market following the seizure of 61 grams of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis and 24 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a bottle of an energy drink as a waybill package from a commercial bus driver along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway the previous day.

In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja highway on 30th September intercepted a Lagos-Abuja commuter bus and found a waybill concealing two sachets of methamphetamine weighing 1kg.

In a follow-up operation, the owner of the consignment, Michael Chukwuememka Uzoma was arrested at Utako, Abuja.

The residence of a suspect, Saturday Omimi was raided at Uyere community, Ovia North-East LGA, Edo state on Friday where NDLEA officers recovered 32.2kg of cannabis sativa. The same day, Osazuwa Iyabor Michael was arrested at Auchi Bypass, Benin City, with 59 grams of Loud, 12 grams of Colorado, 19 grams of Tramadol, 16 grams of methamphetamine, 4 grams of Swinol and 4 grams of Molly.

Six years after jumping bail, 47-year-old fugitive, Idris Mohammed Kurra was arrested by NDLEA operatives on 29th September.

Idris was facing trial at the Federal High Court, Jos, Plateau state in connection with the possession and dealing in 198 kilograms of skunk. He however jumped bail granted him by the court since December 2020 and evaded arrest since then.

While commending the officers and men of the various Lagos Commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd) urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the onslaught against drug trafficking networks, while continuing with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

For the past few weeks, our Mental Health Diary conversation took us into another important area of mental health as we joined the rest of the world to talk about dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, early diagnosis and brain health. Now, we return to our conversation about cognitive distortions, those thinking patterns that can quietly influence how we interpret what happens to us.

Have you ever had a day when almost everything went well, but one thing went wrong and somehow that one thing became the only thing you could think about? Perhaps you received several compliments at work, but one person criticised your performance. Instead of going home remembering the encouragement you received, you kept replaying the criticism in your head. Maybe you had a beautiful family gathering, everyone laughed, ate and enjoyed themselves, but one person made an unpleasant comment and somehow that became what you remembered most. Or perhaps you looked in the mirror and liked almost everything about what you saw, but one small feature caught your attention and suddenly that was all you could see.

Why does one negative experience sometimes feel louder than several positive ones? Part of the answer lies in the way our brains naturally pay attention to things that may signal danger, problems or rejection. This ability is useful because noticing problems helps us respond to them. If something is wrong, we need to be able to notice it. The difficulty begins when our attention becomes so narrow that one negative detail takes over the entire picture. We stop noticing what is going well because our minds have become fixed on what is wrong.

This is known as mental filtering, a cognitive distortion in which we focus disproportionately on one negative aspect of a situation while overlooking other important information, particularly positive or neutral information. Imagine receiving an appraisal at work. Your supervisor tells you that you are hardworking, reliable, creative and valuable to the team. Then they mention one area where you need to improve. You leave the office thinking, ‘My supervisor is not impressed with me.’ But is that really what happened?

The feedback contained several positive observations and one area for improvement, yet your mind selected the criticism and allowed it to overshadow everything else. The criticism may be valid and worth working on, but it was only one part of the conversation.

This happens in our personal lives too. You may have a loving relationship, but after one disagreement, you begin thinking, ‘We are always fighting.’ You may have worked hard for years and achieved many things, but one setback makes you feel as though you have accomplished nothing. You may receive ten encouraging comments about something you created, but one negative comment stays with you throughout the day.

Have you ever noticed how quickly your mind can replay criticism but struggle to replay compliments? This does not mean we should ignore criticism or pretend that everything is fine when it is not. Constructive criticism can help us grow. Problems sometimes need our full attention. If someone points out something we need to improve, we should be willing to listen. The problem occurs when one negative detail becomes the entire story.

It is like looking at a beautiful painting and focusing only on one small mark in the corner. The mark is there, and you are not wrong to notice it. But if that one mark convinces you that the entire painting is ugly, you are no longer seeing the whole picture.

Mental filtering can do exactly that. It can make a good day feel like a bad day, make a meaningful achievement feel insignificant and make a healthy relationship seem hopeless because of one disagreement. It can even make us forget how far we have come because our attention is fixd on the one thing that still needs improvement.

Think about a mother who spends the entire day preparing a meal for her family. Everyone enjoys it, but one person says, ‘Mummy, the soup is a bit salty.’ She may laugh about it at first, but later, instead of remembering everyone who enjoyed the meal, she keeps thinking about that one comment. The entire effort begins to feel like a failure because one detail went wrong.

Or think about someone who has spent months working on a project. It is finally completed and people appreciate the work, but one person points out a mistake. Rather than thinking, ‘I made a mistake and I can correct it,’ the person goes home thinking, ‘I am not good at this.’ This is where mental filtering can quietly affect our confidence and emotional wellbeing.

The goal is not to force ourselves to look at life through rose coloured glasses. We do not have to pretend that disappointment does not hurt or that criticism does not matter. Instead, we can learn to hold the negative information alongside the rest of the picture.

The next time something goes wrong, acknowledge it, but then ask yourself, ‘What else is true?’ Maybe the presentation was not perfect, but you prepared well and communicated some important points. Maybe the conversation was difficult, but you were honest about how you felt. Maybe you made a mistake, but you also learned something from it. Maybe today was difficult, but not everything about today was difficult. That small question, ‘What else is true?’ can interrupt the habit of allowing one negative detail to take over everything.

Here is a little Mind Exercise to carry with you this week. The next time you notice yourself dwelling on something that went wrong, pause and ask, ‘What else am I not noticing?’ Then deliberately identify three things that went well, even if they seem small. It could be a kind word someone said to you, something you accomplished, a problem you handled well, a moment of laughter, a supportive conversation or simply something that brought you peace.

You are not trying to convince yourself that everything is wonderful. You are training your mind to see the whole picture.

Because sometimes, the problem is not that there is nothing good in our lives. The problem is that our attention has become so focused on what is wrong that we have stopped noticing what is right.

If any of this sounds familiar, be gentle with yourself. The aim is not to become someone who never notices problems. We need that ability. The aim is to become someone who can notice what is wrong without allowing it to erase everything that is right. One negative moment may deserve your attention, especially if there is something you need to learn or change, but it does not deserve to become the whole story.

Next week, we will look at what happens when the mind takes one experience and stretches it far beyond that moment, turning ‘this happened’ into ‘this always happens’ and sometimes even ‘this is who I am.’

Until then, remember: see the whole picture. One difficult detail may be part of your story, but it does not have to define the entire story.

Non-indigenes, members of Hunters Association in Ogun State have been urged to mobilise massively for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

This call was made by the Convener of The Alternative Movement, Segun Showunmi, on Saturday while addressing representatives of non-indigenes in the state and the Hunters Association in Egbaland.

Showunmi described the 2027 election as an ‘election of liberation’, and appealed to the groups to use their numerical strength to support Tinubu, stressing that the President would need overwhelming votes from the South-West and other parts of the country.

Showunmi, who described the people living in Ogun State from different parts of the country as members of one ‘Ogun Tribe’, said the contributions of non-indigenes to the economic and social development of the state could not be ignored.

He said: ‘Everything we are doing, even if people are calling themselves all sorts of names according to their local tribe, I created a tribe that will contain all of us together and I call it the Ogun Tribe.’

Showunmi, a former spokesperson to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said Ogun had become a cosmopolitan society because of the contributions of people from different parts of the country, who had settled and built businesses and livelihoods in the state.

He assured non-indigenes that he would continue to stand up for them whenever they faced injustice or discrimination, urging them to reciprocate the relationship by participating actively in the political process.

Showunmi recalled his previous engagements with non-indigenes and claimed that they had consistently responded to his appeals during elections.

He said his visit on Saturday was specifically to seek their support for Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

‘Now I have come to you today. Before coming, I have already met your transport expenses. So why have I come?

‘You see this next election, this is the election that we are going to call the election of liberation. What did I call it? Election of liberation.

‘The liberation there is that all the votes, let nobody sleep that day, must go to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. All the votes must go to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,’ he said.

Showunmi called for sustained mobilisation across Ogun Central, Ogun East and Ogun West, urging supporters to ensure that eligible voters collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and participated in the election.

He also appealed to voters in the state to support Tinubu with what he described as overwhelming votes, arguing that the 2027 election should produce a strong electoral statement.

According to him, the South-West should play a significant role in the President’s bid for another term, while also appealing for political understanding among the different regions of the country.

Showunmi further argued that political power should rotate among the regions, saying that the 2027 election presented an opportunity for the South to demonstrate its support for Tinubu.

He said, ‘We cannot balance this country if we don’t agree that when power goes North, it will stay North, when it comes South, it will come South.’

Djamal Ziane has lifted the same trophy three times, but the Lokomotive Leipzig captain has never been able to celebrate it with promotion.

Lok Leipzig won the Regionalliga Nordost title again in 2026, two years after their previous success and six years after their first. Yet, as happened in 2020 and 2025, the title did not guarantee a place in Germany’s 3. Liga.

Instead, Leipzig had to play Wrzburger Kickers, the Regionalliga Bayern champions, for the final promotion place.

Ziane scored in the second leg in Wrzburg, but the Kickers won 2-1 to complete a 3-1 aggregate victory and secure promotion.

For Leipzig, it was another season ending with a title but no promotion.

‘It’s the worst thing, injury aside, that you can experience as a footballer. Catastrophe doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t make any sense. If they really wanted to change it, they could do it tomorrow,’ Ziane said.

That frustration has spread beyond Leipzig.

Across German football, clubs and supporters have been campaigning for a change to the promotion system, with the slogan ‘Meister mssen aufsteigen!’, ‘Champions must go up!’

The Regionalliga is the fourth level of German football, below the Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga.

There are five divisions: North, West, Southwest, Northeast and Bavaria.

Each produces a league winner, but only four clubs can be promoted to the 3. Liga.

The West and Southwest champions have fixed automatic promotion places. The other two promotion places are shared among the North, Northeast and Bavaria divisions under a rotation system, with the remaining two champions meeting in a play-off.

So every season, one regional champion is left without an automatic route to the third tier.

For players and clubs who have spent months trying to win their division, that can mean the season comes down to two more matches.

Lok Leipzig know the feeling better than most.

They also came close to promotion in 2020, when two draws against SC Verl left them behind on the away-goals rule then in use. In 2025, they lost to TSV Havelse in the promotion play-offs.

Then came 2026 and another title, followed by another play-off.

The Regionalliga Nordost covers the territory of the former East Germany, and clubs from the region have repeatedly found themselves having to fight for the final promotion place.

The Federal Government is contributing 30 per cent of the funding for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, while external lenders are expected to provide the remaining 70 per cent, Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has disclosed.

Umahi said the arrangement was being implemented under an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPC+F) model, with the financing institutions conducting due diligence on the project before committing funds.

‘The entire Tinubu legacy projects are EPC+F – Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing. Thirty per cent is paid by the Federal Government and 70 per cent is financing loan from external financing institution,’ he said.

The minister disclosed that Deutsche Bank provided the financing for the first section of the coastal highway, adding that the facility was oversubscribed by $100 million.

He said the lenders examined the project’s environmental impact assessment, resettlement programme, procurement process and unit costs, among other requirements.

Umahi’s disclosure came amid criticism of the cost and financing structure of the coastal highway, which has been one of the administration’s most controversial infrastructure projects.

Defending the project, the minister said its cost could not be judged simply by dividing the total expenditure by the number of kilometres constructed, given the complex terrain along the route.

‘Terrain makes cost per kilometre simplistic because conditions differ every 50 metres,’ he said.

Umahi explained that some portions of the route involved excavation of up to 10 metres, soil consolidation and extensive filling, while provision was also made for a rail corridor.

He maintained that the project was subjected to the necessary procurement and financing processes, rejecting allegations of financial impropriety.

The first section, measuring 47.47 kilometres, has been completed, while construction continues on other sections of the highway.

The Federal Ministry of Finance has previously confirmed a $747 million syndicated loan led by Deutsche Bank for Phase One, Section One of the project.

I have often lamented the consequences of the bad politics that consecutive Nigerian governments have played with the governance and development structures of the Nigerian state and her people. This politics consists in the framework of neopatrimonial dealings that undermine the potentials that a state possesses to transform the lives and well-being of her citizens. When the political behaviour of the political class manifests a developmental culture and tendencies, it has a very deleterious consequence on the governance and development framework that the state could own and deploy. By the time Nigeria came into the democratic phase in 1999, the expectations for Nigeria and her leadership to do better in terms of good governance had heightened beyond the business-as-usual politics that defined the Nigerian political class up to that juncture.

Democracy comes with its own imperatives in terms of the internal party mechanisms and framework, inter-party relationship and the deliverables expected from democratic governance. The critical point is that democracy demands more than giving attention to elections and electoral dynamics as if political succession encompasses the entirety of what it means to call a state a democracy. In democratic theory, for example, democracy is meant to achieve two crucial transformations. The first is that it is meant to facilitate what we can call the democratic ethos-the transformation in how decisions are taken in fundamental structures and institutions of the state. This includes the internal dynamics of the party system. The second transformation concerns the capacity of democracy to facilitate development.

Here, democracy is meant to aggregate the collective will of the people in terms of sustainable development policies that could be implemented for the purpose of infrastructural development. Democracy therefore encodes the most fundamental essence of the social contract that binds the government and the governed into a relationship of political and governance stewardship. And this stewardship obviates the bad politics that many Nigerian governments have been playing. In order to safeguard the sacredness of that stewardship that the political class owes the people, the democratic framework makes a fundamental allowance for oppositional politics-a framework not only for keeping the feet of the incumbent government on fire, but more crucially for throwing up a range of multiplicity of ideas and policies that could be beneficial for good governance, and ultimately the citizens.

Benjamin Disraeli, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, once noted: ‘No government can be long secure without a formidable opposition.’ This is axiomatic. The opposition in any democratic context is made up of the shadow cabinet, vigilant civil society and the media. Both the shadow cabinet and the media are expected to keep up a querulous but principled interrogation of government accountability, again on behalf of the people. The very lifeline of a democracy is such an opposition and the dissent it introduces that forces the government on its toes for the lifetime of the administration. Indeed, in a satirical moment, Mokokoma Mokhonoana, the South African author, went sarcastic when he said, ‘The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the end of its term.’

One of the tragic points of Nigeria’s democratic experiment is that real oppositional politics died with the First and Second Republics. First, the media in Nigeria has lost its critical and oppositional edge. It has either become captured or silenced or both. Media reportage into government governance policies has become so stilted as to lack any force of principled and objective opposition or ideological sinew. Gone are the days of the West African Pilot and the Nigerian Tribune, and even the New Nigerian, that though partisan in their opposition, still kept up a stream of oppositional reporting that gave the government a run for its money.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, without any iota of doubt, was the most formidable and ideological of all opposition politicians, and his political party the most oppositional of any political party, in Nigeria. Awolowo gave Nigeria the best of his ideological prospecting for the future of Nigeria, and of democratic governance. His many books, especially Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution and The People’s Republic, are classic texts of political philosophy that outline fundamental reflections by which the government of the day could proceed to make Nigeria better for Nigerians. When Obafemi Awolowo is referred to as ‘the best president Nigeria never had,’ it was in recognition of his patriotic dedication to the political future of Nigeria, and principled opposition to bad politics.

Nigeria’s Fourth Republic has been struggling to achieve a potent political machinery that situates the opposition as a strong, coherent and ideologically sound mechanism for orienting democratic governance. With the Tinubu administration, the situation has worsened in the worst possible ways. This is because what parades itself as the ‘opposition’ has remained fragmented, self-serving, disarticulated, and therefore lacking a coherent organising framework. To say the least, the opposition lacks an organised, and hence formidable, structure and ideological blueprint for pushing the Tinubu administration to the limit of democratic dissent.

Let us first explore the many malaises of oppositional politics in Nigerian democratic governance before spotlighting the consequence for the Tinubu administration and Nigeria’s democratic experiment. First, the lack of coherent ideological basis for pushing democratic dissent is so glaring as to render the concept of ‘opposition’ meaningless and rather unfortunate. Any incumbent government in the United Kingdom already has waiting a shadow cabinet that raises the critical torch to every policy statement and activities of the administration on strictly ideological basis. Every penny spent is scrutinised; every foreign policy statement is weighed in the balance. The void left by any significant ideological manifestation in Nigeria makes it possible for all sorts of strange bedfellows to sleep together in unholy dalliance. A longstanding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or the Labour Party (LP) can wake up one day, lose the primary, and waltz comfortably into the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The second critical issue is that the opposition, as a democratic necessity, lacks a critical constitutional standing. And this is crucial because without the constitutional backing for structure and funding, the opposition-whatever its energy-is bereft of a formidable standing that will keep it consistently in business. There is an inherent unfairness in a system that makes the full extent of state resources available to the incumbent government while the supposed opposition is left in financial limbo, or meant to service the oppositional imperative through personal funds.

The third malaise of oppositional politics in Nigeria is first the lack of internal democratic mechanism that allows political opinions, and even internal dissents to be articulated and aggregated. This makes it all too possible and very easy for political elites and vested interests to hijack the party machinery for selfish ends. On the other hand, there is a crucial disconnect between political parties and the grassroots. Parties only make a significant appearance during elections and then subsequently go quiet afterwards. This turns electioneering campaigns into profound acts of pretensions. And neglecting the grassroots, the most significant signifier of democratic politics, only grounds the terrible fixation with elections as the core of democracy.

How has this configured the Tinubu administration and Nigeria’s democratic governance? One, the inchoate ‘opposition’ has left Tinubu’s enigmatic persona as a political strategist and a pragmatist as intact as it could be. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained adept at running circles round his major challengers in the PDP, the LP and other oppositional figures. Even the newly formed African Democratic Congress (ADC) has not fully taken off or stepped into the opposition chamber due to a fragmented cacophony of voices carried high on the personal ambitions of those who wanted to be oppositional. Almost all non-APC politicians have been deserting their own parties in droves as a result of pragmatic need to align with the party in power, and buy into the enigma of the president.

Two, this situation has fundamentally left the Tinubu administration’s governance and development policies bereft of a clear and ideological challenge, even if the opposition is already partisan. When the ADC is unable to bury the personal interests of its gladiators under the need to challenge the incumbent government and its policy architecture, it becomes near impossible for the new party to articulate any blueprint within a fragmented political environment. This situation is very important, and rather sad, because it leaves Nigeria’s democratic governance the poorer for the absence of genuine governance blueprint that speaks sincerely to a vision for the future of Nigeria and Nigerians. Opposition in this context, for all it opposes, is still part of the all hands that must be on deck in ways that cumulate into a collective political effort between the government, media and opposition parties to keep pushing the ideational boundaries of governance forward. If then the opposition is fragmented, or has buried its significance under the weight of personal political ambition, then Nigeria is lost.

This state of oppositional politics in Nigeria is to be lamented, rather than seen as a smooth highway to electoral victory. Indeed, it brings the forthcoming general elections in 2027 into sharper focus, and makes oppositional politics a critical item for electoral reform. An unfortunate dimension of what is currently named as ‘opposition’ is its anti-Tinubu agenda which is focused solely on discrediting and dislocating him. This is unfortunate because the anti-incumbent clamour has made the ‘opposition’ wilfully and disingenuously deny even the most glaring of Tinubu’s achievements. And what is even most appalling is that the stringent noise to send the Tinubu administration packing is all the more strange in the absence of a coherent blueprint that could replace what is currently on the governance and development tables.

The most critical and strategic reform move, ahead and beyond 2027, is to institutionalise oppositional politics by integrating its presence and functional capacity into the 1999 Constitution. In other words, the machineries of opposition must be constitutionally grounded in ways that will enable its utility. This must also be complemented by providing a stringent legal enablement for internal party democracy that mandates political parties to design ideological manifestos that speak to fundamental challenges of the Nigerian federation. On another level, the Electoral Act also requires constant rehabilitation that will make it constantly alive to current and future challenges. A good example is how political parties must be frog-marched into a grassroots mode that challenges local governance and participatory democracy through the party’s engagement with the very people they want to exercise political power over.

The lack of a disciplined, ideological and coherent oppositional framework in the current political dispensation might have handed the Tinubu administration its next four years in office. But this is not a good point to make for Nigeria’s democratic experiment or democratic governance whose vitality must be constantly nourished by a present and proactive opposition that is willing to sacrifice personal ego and ambition on the altar of civic patriotism.