Category: Nigerian Tribune

Resident doctors at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, have raised concerns over poor working conditions, severe understaffing, unpaid minimum wage arrears and other welfare challenges affecting medical personnel at the institution.

The doctors, under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), said they had been compelled to take a stand to protect their profession and dignity amid what they described as persistent neglect and unfulfilled promises.

In a statement jointly signed by the President of ARD, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Dr Mustapha Adedapo A, and the General Secretary, Dr John Stephen, the association lamented that resident doctors had continued to work under difficult conditions.

The statement read in part: ‘Today, the resident doctors of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, stand united. We took an oath to save lives, but today, we are forced to take a stand to save our own profession and dignity.’

The doctors listed severe understaffing, unpaid minimum wage arrears, unfulfilled allowance promises and dilapidated call rooms among the challenges confronting them.

They stressed that a burnt-out and neglected doctor could not provide the quality healthcare patients deserved, noting that their demands were centred on basic human dignity, fair compensation and proper funding of medical residency training.

The association called on the Oyo State Governor, the Oyo State Government, the hospital management and other relevant stakeholders to urgently address their grievances.

‘We are not asking for luxuries; we are demanding basic human dignity, fair compensation and the proper funding of medical residency training,’ the doctors stated.

They urged the relevant authorities to resolve the issues and improve the welfare and working conditions of resident doctors to enable them to concentrate fully on their responsibility of saving lives.

The association declared that its members remained united in their struggle, insisting that urgent action was needed to fix the challenges facing the hospital and its medical workforce.

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has congratulated a former Governor of the state, Chief Segun Oni, on the occasion of his 72nd birthday.

The Governor, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode, described Oni as a man of honour who has rendered immense service to Ekiti State, Nigeria and humanity at large.

Governor Oyebanji commended the former Governor for his enduring contributions to the development of Ekiti, noting that he remains a distinguished statesman, patriot, community leader and politician whose virtues have positively impacted governance both in and out of office.

He further described Oni as a symbol of humility, selflessness and unwavering commitment to the welfare of the people, adding that his concern for the common man and dedication to the Ekiti project have continued to inspire many.

The Governor also lauded Oni for implementing people-oriented and welfarist policies during his tenure, noting that many of such initiatives have stood the test of time and continue to benefit the people of the state.

According to him, the former Governor’s administration marked a significant phase in Ekiti’s multi-sectoral development, particularly in the areas of workers’ welfare, infrastructure, healthcare and economic growth.

Governor Oyebanji added that Oni’s contributions have earned him a lasting place in the positive trajectory of Ekiti’s development, stressing that he remains relevant in the ongoing quest for a more prosperous Ekiti and a greater Nigeria.

He prayed that God would grant the former Governor long life, sound health and more fruitful years of service to the state, the nation and humanity.

‘On behalf of the Government and good people of Ekiti State, I felicitate with our dear distinguished leader and statesman, Chief Segun Oni, and pray that God blesses his new age with good health and happiness.’

In Yorubaland Encircled (June 11, 2022), I wrote: ‘Death lurks in Yoruba forests. Farming is risky: rape without a slit throat is a lucky escape. The forests are no longer the spring from which pen wielders like Tutuola and Fagunwa documented demonology. They are no longer the site of fickle ancestors. They have been taken over by fair men from distant lands, men who maraud for a living and have no subscription to Nigeria’s green-white-green.’ That situation remains today, and it has spawned disparate groups, one of which is the Iru Ekun network floated by the Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, the man his admirers call Igboho Oosa (Igboho the god) in deep veneration.

Fresh from his visit to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, where he received royal blessings and a N100 million pledge, Igboho has been visiting traditional rulers across the South-West, canvassing for his Iru Ekun (Leopard’s Tail) in a region that already has Amotekun. That is not unusual: our people say it is by the way a bird flies that you aim a stone at it. But the optics are not necessarily right, as I argue below.

Prior to the Bola Tinubu presidency, Igboho was a fugitive. He was hunted down by the ethnically insensitive, provocatively partisan, and intensely unpatriotic Muhammadu Buhari government. Buhari, who had told Benue leaders to ‘accommodate’ their ‘countrymen’ following the pogrom staged by Fulani terrorists in the state on New Year’s Day 2018, treated Igboho like public enemy number one simply because of his outspokenness against Fulani marauders whose genocidal onslaughts his government had conveniently overlooked. Having once said that an attack on Boko Haram was an attack on the North, Buhari was a crudely provincial ethnic bigot whose presidency witnessed the decimation of vast numbers of communities by his kith and kin. It was therefore only natural for him to be baying for Igboho’s blood. Security agencies shed blood on Igboho’s homestead, and Buhari later sought, albeit unsuccessfully, to extradite the activist from his place of refuge in the Republic of Benin.

With Tinubu in power, however, Igboho, who had committed no violence whatsoever but had only vigorously protested herder genocide in Yoruba communities, including in Igangan, Oyo State, where the outlaws committed heartrending barbarity, got a lifeline. But lacking the sensibility of a trained security operative, Igboho has adopted a loudmouthed, raucous approach to security issues: witness, for instance, his theatrical performance during the Oriire kidnapping episode, where he supposedly deployed drones and called on the authorities to hand the rescue operation over to him. Predictably, the dogs of empire, including the lawless rogues who recently sought to kidnap the Ifa propagator Talolohun for a second time in Ibadan, have latched onto Igboho’s crudity to canvass the continued subjugation of Yoruba communities in Kwara State.

Buoyed by his reversal of fortune, Igboho declared on Thursday that Iru Ekun would support President Bola Tinubu in the fight against bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals in the South-West. Said His Media Office: ‘It is clear to everyone that the bad actions of dishonest herdsmen, thieves, and kidnappers, who have been troubling our farming areas and other communities, have stopped since the Iru Ekun Security Network started working with support from the police, military, and DSS. We are not going to stop or give in until the South-West forests, highways, and farming areas are safe for everyone. We can’t let criminals turn the area into a safe haven for them.’

If cases of kidnapping and herder onslaughts on farmers have decreased in the South-West, that is not due to Igboho’s Iru Ekun but to the combined efforts of state governments in the zone. Igboho never stops attributing security successes to himself, but that is not the point of this piece. What does Igboho mean by saying that President Tinubu ratified the formation of Iru Ekun? The President, whom I do not blame for redressing the injustice done to Igboho, cannot ratify any ethnic militia. If the President wants any new security agency created, he will do so through the National Assembly, as Obasanjo did in the case of the NSCDC. I suspect that, in his characteristically boastful manner, Igboho is just throwing the President’s name around. Nigeria’s North already has arms-wielding groups performing state functions, so this is not necessarily a legalistic argument. My question is this: what legal instrument created Iru Ekun? No one knows its articles of formation, personnel, modus operandi, or area of coverage. Igboho, no matter who he thinks himself to be, cannot override the governments of the South-West and float an outfit tied to his whims. If Amotekun is operating in South-West states, it is because the governments of the zone created it. Go through the Ekiti State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Law No. 1 of 2020, the Ondo State Security Network Agency and Amotekun Corps Law, 2020, and allied legislation, and you will find that Amotekun has a solid basis in law.

If left unregulated, Iru Ekun can become the monster it was intended to tame. Ethnic militias have historically been associated with mass killings, retaliation, intimidation of civilians, and the recruitment of young people into armed conflict. The Interahamwe in Rwanda, the Janjaweed in Sudan and the sectarian militias in Lebanon offer useful lessons on how groups can spiral out of control.

If Yorubaland is to be secure, it has to be through collective effort, not through exclusivist groups setting up a binary dichotomy. Igboho poses as the saviour of the Yoruba race, but that is ahistorical. No single individual can secure a race. At the slightest opportunity, his minions attack the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Chief Gani Adams, calling him a woman and claiming the land is secured by their boss. But I was around during the military era when strangers tried to overrun Lagos and even claimed that Alausa (Alawusa: the place of the walnut) belonged to the Hausa! The Sani Abacha government did everything in its power to enslave the Yoruba. It was Gani Adams who rose to challenge that onslaught. No less a personality than Lt-Gen Oladipo Diya later expressed admiration for the bravery of OPC-led Yoruba youths during those terrible days. At the time, someone advised me, as a Man O’War member in Ikorodu, to adopt a northern name to brighten my chances of joining the Nigerian Army. I categorically refused. You can badmouth Gani Adams today simply because he is asking for state authorization before going after criminals in the forests, but history will vindicate his position. The same critics of Gani Adams are the people placing VDM over Omoyele Sowore, a man who confronted military dictators.

In The Steps Yorubaland must take to survive (June 6, 2026), I submitted that securing the South-West will require collective effort. I called for the equipping of Amotekun with requisite weapons; the setting up of State Tactical Guards; the constitution of an Elders Security Council; the creation of a Diaspora Protection Fund, and the actualization of a cattle revolution.

I am open to further suggestions, but I cannot back lone-ranger groups riding roughshod over constituted authority.

A man, Mauroof, has told Grade A Customary Court, sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, he is no longer interested in marriage to his wife, Latifat, whom he alleged was troublesome, fetish and in the habit of threatening him.

Mauroof stated that his peace deserted him the very day Latifat moved into his house as his wife.

The plaintiff explained that their home was always in turmoil because the defendant was both troublesome and hostile, and regularly sought every opportunity to fight him.

According to Mauoof, Latifat always threatened to implicate him and send him to prison.

He added that their first child deserted home after she threatened to poison him.

Mauroof also stated that Latifat also displayed her unruly behaviour towards their neighbours who refused to take insults from her.

The plaintiff further stated that the defendant was fetish, adding that his brother saw her gathering sands from the four corners of their house for diabolic purpose.

Mauroof told the court that he had had enough of his wife’s atrocities and thus prayed that their union be dissolved.

Latifat refused to make an appearance in court despite being served the court proceedings.

Mauroof, in his testimony, said, ‘My lord, I regretted ever marrying my wife.

‘She turned my life upside down after she came into my life.

‘Latifat has no respect for me as the head of the home.

‘She is unruly and hostile in her behaviour and hurls insults at me.

‘Our home is always in turbulence because she always seeks every opportunity to fight me.

‘My wife is not hostile to me, but also towards our children who find no friend in her.

‘Our first child left home after she threatened to poison him.

‘She is also in the habit of threatening to put me in trouble.

‘She would brag that she would implicate me and send me to prison.

‘Our neighbours are also not exempted from her harsh behaviour.

‘They were at all times ready to fight her back.

‘Latifat is fetish and is always asking for names of my family members for diabolic purpose.

‘My brother caught her gathering sand from the four corners of our house for evil purpose.

‘My lord, I am fed up with my wife and no longer interested in going further with our marriage.

‘I pray the court to stop our relationship.

‘I further seek an order restraining her from threatening and interfering with my private life.’

The president of the court, Mrs S.M Akintayo adjourned the case and ordered a fresh hearing notice to be issued and served on the defendant.

The Federal Government has opened applications for the second cohort of the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), with 50 outstanding student-led ventures set to receive up to ?50 million each in equity-free funding.

National Coordinator of the Special Programme Operations and Implementation Unit (SPOI) of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Adebayo Onigbanjo, announced the opening of the application portal at a news conference during the weekend in Abuja.

According to him, the initiative, also known as the Next Moonshot Initiative, is targeted at student entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM)-related fields.

He said the application portal would remain open until September 30, 2026, adding that 50 exceptional ventures would be selected from entries received nationwide.

‘For Cohort 2, we are looking for quality applications from student innovators across Nigeria, from which 50 outstanding ventures will ultimately be selected.

‘Successful applicants will be eligible to receive up to ?50 million equity-free grant from the Federal Republic of Nigeria to develop and scale their businesses,’ Onigbanjo said. He explained that the programme was part of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a component of the Ministry of Education’s Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), particularly its STEMM pillar on research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Onigbanjo said the grant was designed to address the funding challenges confronting young innovators and enable them transform promising ideas into viable and scalable businesses.

He disclosed that the selection process for the second cohort had been strengthened, beginning with Artificial Intelligence-assisted screening, followed by assessment by 10 human evaluators.

Shortlisted applicants would make virtual presentations before an Evaluation Committee, while finalists would proceed to a bootcamp and in-person pitch session.

Beyond the financial support, successful beneficiaries would also receive six months of mentorship from experienced organisations and business leaders across different sectors.

Among the organisations supporting the mentorship programme are Lafarge, Powerhouse, LifeBank, Future Africa, GetEquity and OneHealth, among others.

To increase awareness and participation, the S-VCG team will embark on a nationwide campus mobilisation campaign from September 6 to September 30, covering nine tertiary institutions across the six geopolitical zones.

The institutions include the University of Abuja, Nile University, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bayero University Kano, Kano University of Science and Technology, Federal Polytechnic Kaduna, Ambrose Alli University, University of Lagos and Covenant University.

A Campus Ambassador Programme will also be activated in 20 additional tertiary institutions to extend awareness of the grant opportunity to more students.

The National Coordinator urged Vice-Chancellors, Rectors, Provosts, lecturers and student leaders to identify promising innovators in their institutions and encourage them to apply.

The programme builds on the first cohort, which attracted 17,914 registrations from 404 tertiary institutions across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory within three weeks of opening in November 2025.

Of the submissions received, 3,014 completed applications underwent AI-assisted screening and assessment by 10 human evaluators, while 65 finalists advanced to a three-day bootcamp held in March 2026.

A total of 45 beneficiaries were eventually selected under the inaugural cohort.

Onigbanjo said the S-VCG was open to students developing solutions in areas including health, agriculture, education, technology, energy, logistics and e-commerce, stressing that eligible applicants must be currently enrolled in a Nigerian university, polytechnic or college of education and be at least in 300 level or its equivalent.

He added that students below 300 level may participate as members of teams led by qualifying students.

‘Applicants must also have a CAC-registered business name or company, while their projects must have progressed beyond proof of concept and demonstrate potential for real-world application,’ he said.

The S-VCG is implemented in partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Bank of Industry (BOI) and Afara Initiative.

Applications can be submitted through svcg.education.gov.ng until September 30, 2026.

Onigbanjo said the Federal Government remained committed to creating an environment where tertiary institutions could serve not only as centres of learning, but also as hubs for innovation, enterprise development and job creation.

‘Nigeria does not lack innovative young people. What many lack is the opportunity and capital to take these ideas further.

‘Our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education must increasingly become places where ideas are developed, solutions created and businesses born,’ he said.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Kunle Salako, on Friday, inaugurated advanced trauma life support and tricycle ambulances for selected public health facilities in Ogun State, for life-saving intervention in emergency situations.

The initiative, according to the Minister, was one of the steps by the Federal Government to strengthen emergency medical services, and ensure that every Nigerian resident, regardless of location or financial status, can access timely and life-saving emergency care.

Salako said this in his keynote remarks at the flag-off and distribution held at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS).

He noted that many lives were lost on a daily basis because emergency care is delayed, saying that NEMSAS has supported more than 48,000 women to receive free emergency obstetric care.

The Minister also added that over 4,000 women would receive free caesarean sections in NHIA-empanelled facilities, contributing to a 17 per cent fall in maternal deaths and a 12 per cent fall in newborn deaths in 172 high-burden local governments in the country.

Salako revealed that 145 tricycles, 6 boats, 15 Basic Life Support (BLS) and 79 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances have been acquired, in addition to support tools like laptops, printers, and communication devices.

‘These ambulances and tools are being distributed across Nigeria as the first phase of this initiative to strengthen the Emergency Medical Service System across the country with Ogun State a beneficiary of 3 ALS, 1 BLS and 9 tricycle ambulances targetting federal/state tertiary institutions (FMC and OOUTH), selected high volume or remote secondary and primary healthcare facilities.

‘This validates the national commitment to subnational level including my home state of Ogun where these emergency medical service assets will support response across diverse communities, from urban centres to hard-to-reach rural settings. Our approach has also shifted from simply providing ambulances to establishing a more coordinated emergency-care system, one in which transportation, trained personnel, communication, referral pathways, and definitive treatment are seamlessly connected,’ the Minister added.

The State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, represented by his deputy, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele, appreciated the Federal Government for the support intervention programme, with the state receiving three CNG advanced life support ambulances and ten tricycle ambulances for some communities across the state.

‘This intervention is particularly important because, as you have heard, in emergency healthcare, the most important thing is access and time. These are the most critical factors for our patients who need the care. And a good health facility can only save the life of a patient if you can get the patient to the facility on time.

‘We recognize this as a reality in our state. As you heard in earlier remarks as well, this is a highly industrialized state. It has major roads going through our state, and as such, we do get an unprecedented amount of emergency calls across our state,’ Salako-Oyedele said.

The Acting Commander, Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC), Brigadier General Yushau Dogara Ahmed, has commended the level of academic activities and conducive learning environment at the Nigerian Army Institute of Science Education and Technology (NAISET) and the Nigerian Army College of Education (NACOE), Sobi Cantonment, Ilorin, Kwara State.

Brigadier General Ahmed made the commendation on Thursday, during a working visit to the two institutions.

The Acting Corps Commander expressed satisfaction with the academic activities at both institutions, noting that they had created conducive environments for learning.

Ahmed, according to a statement by the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, NACOE, Lieutenant Oluwaseun Adewale Oriade, reaffirmed the commitment of the NAEC to providing the necessary support to sustain academic excellence and produce well-rounded personnel for the Nigerian Army.

During the visit, the Acting Commander also inspected 79 recruits preparing for the 2026 second series of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates.

He urged the recruits to remain focused, disciplined and diligent, stressing that education remains a critical pillar for professionalism and career advancement in the Nigerian Army.

In his remarks, the Ag. Commandant, NAISET, Colonel Abbas Ahmad Abubakar, appreciated the Acting Corps Commander for his support towards the development of facilities and coordination of activities at the institute.

Abubakar assured that NAISET would remain committed to producing technically competent personnel for the Nigerian Army.

Similarly, the Ag Provost, NACOE, Colonel Prince Godswill Agbai, applauded Ahmed for his consistent support for the college.

Agbai said the Acting Corps Commander’s leadership had continued to inspire growth and innovation in teachers’ training within the Nigerian Army, while expressing optimism for further collaboration to enhance the capacity of the institutions.

The Ag. Rector, Nigerian Army College of Environmental Science and Technology (NACEST), Makurdi, Colonel Olalekan Bamiteko, also commended the Acting Corps Commander for his proactive leadership and sustained efforts towards upgrading college facilities.

According to the statement, Bamiteko noted that the improvements had enhanced effective administration and the overall learning environment for personnel and students.

The visit, according to Lieutenant Oriade, was aimed at assessing the academic and infrastructural development of the institutions, as well as boosting the morale of personnel and students.

A Christian friend called me a few days ago after news spread that scores of my Borgu cousins who had gathered for Juma’at prayers at Kpenya Mosque in Dekara District of Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State were abducted by terrorists. He said the international publicity that attends attacks such as this must have contributed to the waning of the ‘Christian genocide’ narrative that had reduced Nigeria’s complex security crisis to a simplistic, one-dimensional story of Muslims killing Christians.

I told him it was more complicated than that. It’s true that the abduction of Muslim worshippers from a mosque punctures the fiction that Nigeria’s terrorists check the religion of their victims before they kill, kidnap or dispossess them.

Nonetheless, what seems to be the retreat of the Christian-genocide rhetoric in Washington cannot be explained by these sorts of inconvenient facts alone. Facts rarely defeat politically useful narratives by themselves. Someone has to organize the facts, carry them into the right rooms and translate them into the political idiom of people who have the power to act. That person, more than anyone else in the Tinubu government, appears to have been National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.

Fifteen years ago, Ribadu was effectively a political exile in the United States. He was removed as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after he fell out with the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua government. He fled the country after surviving at least two failed assassination attempts and several death threats.

He spent about 18 months as a visiting fellow at the Washington-based Center for Global Development and also had an affiliation with Oxford. Washington became a classroom as well as a refuge.

In May 2009, Ribadu testified before the US House Financial Services Committee on corruption and illicit financial flows. In February 2010, he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs to discuss Nigeria’s political crisis.

At the Senate hearing, Ribadu thanked Senators Russ Feingold and Johnny Isakson for intervening when the Yar’Adua government was after him. ‘You stood up, you spoke, and it has made a difference,’ he told them.

He had personally experienced how congressional pressure, think-tank advocacy, media visibility and executive-branch attention can converge to influence a foreign government.

That knowledge became useful late last year when Donald Trump elevated allegations of a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria into a major foreign-policy confrontation. Trump returned Nigeria to the list of Countries of Particular Concern, threatened to cut US assistance and instructed the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action if Nigeria failed to stop the killing of Christians. He even used the phrase ‘guns-a-blazing.’

Whatever one thought of the factual basis of the genocide claim, the diplomatic danger to Nigeria was potentially politically, even existentially, fatal. Nigerian officials protested that insecurity afflicts people of all religions. True as that was, the argument did little to address the American political machinery powering the accusation.

Within weeks, Ribadu led a heavyweight Nigerian delegation to Washington that included the Attorney General, the inspector general of police and the Chief of Defence Staff. He met Congressman Riley Moore, one of the loudest congressional voices on Christian persecution in Nigeria, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. In the aftermath of the meeting, the language of confrontation soon began to give way to the language of cooperation.

Then came the lobbying operation. In December 2025, Aster Legal, acting on Ribadu’s behalf, hired DCI Group, a Washington public affairs and lobbying firm, under an agreement worth as much as $9 million over a year. The contract said DCI would help Nigeria communicate its efforts to protect Christian communities and sustain American support for the fight against West African jihadist groups.

This was expensive. But the mechanics of the campaign are instructive. DCI went directly into the American conservative Christian ecosystem from which much of the genocide narrative drew its political and rhetorical energy. Its FARA filings show outreach to evangelical and religious-freedom figures, invitations to a dinner with Nigeria’s First Lady and efforts to arrange interviews for her. The filings record invitations to figures such as Sam Brownback, Nina Shea, Ralph Reed and Penny Nance, along with subsequent congressional engagements.

Oluremi Tinubu was an unusually useful messenger. She is an ordained Christian pastor married to a Muslim president. At the National Prayer Breakfast in February, Trump publicly recognized her as a Christian pastor and called her ‘a very respected woman.’ Her presence complicated the picture of a Muslim government presiding over the slaughter of Christians.

Ribadu kept returning to Washington. From May 4 to May 6, he met Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior State Department and Pentagon officials. In August, he led another Nigerian delegation for the second session of the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group created to deal with the Country of Particular Concern designation.

These high-profile meetings caused the tenor of the relationship between Nigeria and the United States to change dramatically. The United States still speaks about protecting Christian communities, and Nigeria remains on the religious-freedom list, but Washington now increasingly treats Nigeria as a security partner.

The clearest evidence of the change came from Marco Rubio. In congressional testimony in June, he said in many cases Nigeria’s problem was a lack of capability in confronting heavily armed terrorist groups and described US-Nigeria cooperation as a ‘success story.’

Then Trump himself wrote Tinubu in July praising his ‘decisive leadership’ and his efforts to confront violence affecting Christian communities. Months after threatening military action, Trump was telling Tinubu that it was an honor to stand with him against terrorists.

Ribadu’s American exile helps explain his aptitude for managing this transition. I doubt that he simply dusted off his 2009 contact list and called old friends. In any case, Washington has changed profoundly since the Obama years, and many of the Trump people who mattered in 2025 and 2026 were outside Ribadu’s old think-tank circle. His advantage appears to have been what is called institutional literacy.

He had learned that Washington is a collection of overlapping constituencies. You need to know how the US Congress works, which congressional staff to contact, which think tanks matter, which lobbyists can get the job done, which religious organizations are central to narrative reframing, what alternative media narratives to construct, and which executive agencies can help the most. He had also learned that access becomes more useful when it is attached to something the United States wants.

Of course, the Tinubu government has bargaining chips that no opposition politician can match. Nigeria can offer intelligence cooperation, military access, counterterrorism operations, arrests and prosecutions. That helps explain why the government’s Washington campaign has so far produced more tangible results than Atiku Abubakar’s much smaller lobbying effort. Money matters, but state power gives lobbying something concrete to sell.

Just so I am not misunderstood, this is not a celebration of Ribadu’s diplomatic wizardry. It’s merely an analysis and an acknowledgement of my sense of what and who are responsible for the thawing of the tensile stress between the Trump and Tinubu administrations.

There is, however, a more immediate test of the government’s security competence than anything that happens in Washington. It is in Dekara, where scores of my Borgu cousins were abducted from a mosque while performing Juma’at prayers. The government must secure their release and ensure that such an outrage does not become another entry in Nigeria’s grim catalogue of mass abductions.

Borgu deserves particular attention because an axis of the country long known for relative peace has been bleeding with increasing regularity lately. Communities that used to regard terrorism and mass kidnapping as distant horrors are now learning the vocabulary of ransom, displacement, fear and mass graves. The federal and Niger State governments must move beyond episodic reactions and establish a security structure capable of preventing recurrence.

It was in Borgu that Bola Tinubu received the title ‘Jagaba,’ or champion, long before it became inseparable from his political identity. The people of the land that gave him that name should not have to live at the mercy of terrorists. If Washington now regards his government as a serious partner in the fight against insecurity, that partnership must produce security where Nigerians actually live, worship and sleep.

For Borgu, the most meaningful dividend of all the lobbying, diplomacy and international security cooperation will be the safe return of the Kpenya Mosque abductees and the restoration of the peace for which Borgu was once known.

The same must be true for every part of Nigeria now bleeding from insecurity, from Benue and Plateau to Zamfara and Katsina, from Borno to the forests of Niger and Kwara states and other communities where Nigerians, Christian and Muslim alike, live with the daily fear of blood-thirsty terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), and other senior officials of the administration to travel by road without armed security escorts if the government’s claim of improved security is genuine.

The party made the challenge on Saturday in Abuja while reacting to Musa’s recent claim that the Federal Government had ‘defeated terrorists’ and that kidnapping had been reduced to more of a ‘social ill’ than a wider security concern.

The APM, through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Abubakar Yusuf, accused the Tinubu administration of ‘living in denial’ of the security realities confronting Nigerians, arguing that the situation on the ground contradicted the government’s claims.

‘If the security situation has truly improved as the administration claims, the APM challenges the President, the Minister of Defence and other senior officials of the Tinubu Presidency to travel by road without armed security details as other Nigerians must do,’ it said.

Musa, while speaking during a television interview earlier on Tuesday, had said the government had made significant progress in tackling terrorism and that the pattern of insecurity had shifted towards kidnapping.

‘Frankly speaking, we have defeated terrorists because now, like I said, the attacks are not as rampant and it is now kidnapping.

‘Like I said, kidnapping is a social ill where you now see wives kidnapping husbands and husbands kidnapping children’, he responded to a question.

The minister went on, ‘I can tell you there is improved security. Maybe if you noticed, you don’t hear so much of Boko Haram attacks, ISWAP attacks and all these things here and there, maybe one-off.

‘Now, I say, the trajectory is this: from criminality to kidnapping to terrorism, insurgency; once you are able to hit them, it goes back downwards.

‘So, we are now back into the stage of abductions and kidnappings because that is the easiest way for them to try and raise money.’

However, the APM said the minister’s assessment amounted to a ‘dangerous distortion of reality’, citing the Global Terrorism Index 2026, which it said ranked Nigeria as the fourth most insecure country in the world, compared with sixth position in the 2025 index.

Yusuf said it was unacceptable for a senior government official to claim that security had improved while Nigerians continued to face killings, abductions, displacement and other forms of violence.

‘It is deeply disappointing that a minister of the Federal Republic could appear on national television to make such claims at a time when millions of innocent Nigerians are being killed, kidnapped, displaced and terrorised in various parts of the country,’ Yusuf stated.

The APM spokesman also accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians affected by killings, maiming, rape, ransom-driven abductions and captivity by bandits.

He said the administration could not claim to understand the anguish of families whose lives had been permanently disrupted by insecurity over the past three years.

Yusuf cited the reported abduction of about 600 Nigerians, mostly women, children and elderly people, from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida villages in Niger State.

He noted, ‘Only last week, 600 Nigerians, mostly women, children and the elderly, were abducted from Dekera, Gidan-Zana and Sabon Gida villages in Niger State and are still languishing in captivity.’

Yusuf also cited data from SBM Intelligence, which he said showed that kidnapping for ransom had become a highly monetised industry under the Tinubu administration, with more than N7.78 billion reportedly paid as ransom between July 2025 and June 2026.

The party accused the administration of either being ‘dangerously disconnected from reality’ or deliberately attempting to manipulate public perception by downplaying the security situation.

It also rejected the description of abductions as a ‘family affair’, arguing that such acts constituted terrorism and should be treated as a national security emergency.

The APM further argued that insecurity was ‘festering’ under Tinubu, alleging that the administration lacked the capacity to develop and implement an effective blueprint to tackle the crisis.

The party urged Nigerians not to despair, but to support its presidential candidate, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, in the 2027 election.

It said Makinde had a blueprint for tackling insecurity and other challenges facing the country, adding that the Tinubu administration would end on May 29, 2027.

That is where independent retirement planning wealth Nigeria becomes important. The goal is not to replace the pension system but to build additional financial strength around it. A combination of long-term investments, income-producing assets, emergency reserves and thoughtful estate planning can give retirees more control over how they spend their later years.

Start with the kind of retirement you want

Before choosing an investment, work out what retirement is supposed to look like. Someone planning to remain in Lagos, travel regularly, maintain private healthcare and support family members will have very different financial needs from someone expecting a quieter, lower-cost lifestyle.

Start with today’s monthly expenses and separate essential costs from discretionary spending. Housing, food, transportation, healthcare and family support deserve particular attention because they may remain significant even after employment income disappears.

Inflation makes the exercise more important. ?10 million saved today will not have the same purchasing power years from now, so a retirement target should account for rising costs rather than simply picking a convenient round figure.

Use time to your advantage

One of the most powerful tools in retirement planning is time. Regular investment over several decades gives compound growth an opportunity to work, allowing returns to generate additional returns.

Consider a simple illustration: investing ?200,000 every month for 25 years would mean contributing ?60 million before considering any investment returns. If the portfolio earns returns and those returns are reinvested, the eventual balance could be substantially higher. That outcome is not guaranteed, though, because actual performance depends on asset selection, market conditions, fees, taxes and the timing of withdrawals.

The important lesson is consistency. A professional who waits until the final years of a career to build personal wealth may have to contribute much more aggressively to catch up.

Build wealth beyond the pension account

Nigeria’s pension system provides an important foundation, but professionals can strengthen their retirement position through additional savings and investments. PenCom’s framework allows voluntary contributions, while its Personal Pension Plan provides a regulated pension arrangement for eligible self-employed people and certain other contributors.

There is also a broader investment universe outside pension assets. Depending on an individual’s objectives and risk tolerance, this may include government securities, equities, collective investment schemes, real estate or other legitimate investments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says collective investment schemes pool investors’ money into portfolios and can provide diversification and professional management. Its recognized structures include unit trusts, real estate investment schemes, venture capital funds and specialized funds.

That does not mean buying everything available. A retirement portfolio should have a purpose, with each asset contributing either growth, income, capital preservation or diversification.

Diversification is about managing risk

A retirement plan becomes vulnerable when too much wealth depends on one source. A professional who owns several properties but has little liquid savings, for example, may appear wealthy while still struggling to pay expenses when rental income falls or an unexpected bill arrives.

Portfolio managers generally use asset allocation and diversification to spread risk across investments that may behave differently under changing economic conditions. FINRA notes that stocks, bonds and cash can perform differently across economic environments, while spreading capital among different investments can help smooth portfolio volatility.

For a Nigerian investor, diversification might involve combining growth assets with more defensive investments and maintaining enough accessible cash for emergencies. The right mix will depend on age, income, liabilities, dependents, existing pension assets and proximity to retirement. There is no universal percentage that works for everyone.

Think about income, not just accumulation

A portfolio can be large and still produce a difficult retirement if the owner has no plan for turning it into sustainable income.

This is why retirement planning eventually has to move from accumulation to distribution. Rental income, dividends, interest, business income and systematic investment withdrawals can potentially become part of a retiree’s income mix. The objective is to cover essential expenses without being forced to liquidate long-term assets at unfavorable times.

That becomes particularly important during a market downturn. Selling investments after a sharp decline to fund everyday expenses can permanently reduce the capital available for future recovery. Building a cash reserve and maintaining investments with different risk characteristics can provide breathing room when markets become unpredictable.

Prepare for healthcare and longevity

Healthcare deserves its own place in a retirement plan because medical expenses can become more significant with age. A portfolio designed only around food, housing and transportation may prove inadequate when major medical costs arrive.

Longevity creates another challenge. Someone retiring at 60 could potentially need financial resources for another 25 or 30 years. That makes it dangerous to treat retirement as a short period that can be funded by quickly spending down accumulated wealth.

A sustainable plan should therefore consider how much can reasonably be withdrawn each year, how inflation may affect future expenses and how the portfolio should change as the investor ages.

Be careful with investment promises

Building wealth independently does not mean chasing every opportunity that promises extraordinary returns. In fact, retirement money should usually be treated more cautiously than speculative capital because losses become harder to recover when there is little working life left to rebuild savings.

The SEC regulates investment products and operators within Nigeria’s capital market, and its investor resources emphasize the importance of understanding collective investment structures and regulatory requirements.

Before committing substantial retirement savings, verify who manages the investment, how the returns are generated, what fees apply, how easily the money can be withdrawn and whether the operator is properly regulated. A guaranteed high return should be treated as a warning sign, not an invitation.

Review the plan as life changes

Retirement planning is not a document that should be prepared once and forgotten. A promotion, marriage, new child, property purchase, business venture or major change in income can alter the amount a professional needs to save and the level of investment risk that makes sense.

The same applies as retirement approaches. A portfolio that was appropriate at 35 may be unnecessarily aggressive at 58. Gradually reviewing asset allocation, liquidity and expected retirement income can help reduce the risk of discovering a major financial gap when it is too late to fix it.

Ultimately, independent retirement planning is about creating options. Your pension should form part of the foundation, but additional investments and income sources can make retirement less dependent on a single financial system or paycheck.