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THE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has expressed concern over the reported conviction and imprisonment of a Christian woman, identified as Lami Samuel Dawa, in Borno State.

CAN said the circumstances surrounding the conviction, particularly reports that the case arose from the conversion of an adult woman to Christianity, had raised serious questions about the protection of religious freedom and fundamental human rights in the country.

The association, however, said it was still verifying the precise facts and legal basis of the conviction.

In a press statement issued on Saturday and signed by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, CAN disclosed that an appeal had already been filed, adding that it was committed to allowing the judicial process to run its course.

The association stressed that every Nigerian had the constitutional right to freely choose, change or practise their religion or belief without coercion, intimidation or unlawful punishment.

It called on the relevant authorities to ensure that the rights of all parties involved in the case were protected and that justice was served in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the country.

‘Nevertheless, the case raises important questions about the protection of religious freedom and the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,’ the statement said.

CAN further disclosed that it would continue to monitor developments surrounding the case and engage relevant authorities through appropriate legal and institutional channels.

Reaffirming its commitment to religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence, the association said it remained dedicated to protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of every Nigerian, irrespective of religious background.

The development comes amid renewed concerns over the protection of religious freedom and the rights of citizens to practise their faith in different parts of the country.

For millions of Nigerian workers, payday increasingly feels less like relief than a brief pause before the next financial struggle. Now, a ?70,000 monthly transport allowance for six months has sharpened the question: can a country keep adjusting minimum wages without confronting the cost of living? Christian APPOLOS reports on the unfolding crisis

The Federal Government’s announcement of a ?70,000 monthly transportation allowance for eligible public servants, payable for six months, has brought into sharp focus the widening gap between workers’ earnings and the cost of maintaining a decent standard of living.

The striking irony is difficult to ignore: the proposed monthly transport support is equivalent to Nigeria’s current national minimum wage of ?70,000. For workers already struggling to meet basic household expenses, the comparison raises a fundamental question about the adequacy of their earnings. If an entire month’s minimum wage can be matched by a temporary transport allowance, what does that say about the purchasing power of the wage itself?

Beyond the immediate relief the allowance may provide, the development has reopened a larger debate about the direction of Nigeria’s wage policy, the sustainability of periodic minimum-wage increases and whether the country should move beyond the traditional minimum-wage framework towards a living wage.

For labour and policy experts, the problem is not simply that workers earn too little. It is that wages are being negotiated and adjusted in an economy where the prices of essential goods and services continue to rise, while the public infrastructure and social services that could reduce household expenditure remain inadequate.

Their positions differ on the amount that should constitute a reasonable wage, but they converge on one central argument: Nigeria cannot achieve meaningful improvements in workers’ welfare through nominal wage increases alone. It must address the economic conditions that determine what those wages can actually buy.

Chief Emenike Ikedichi Ubani, a labour analyst and lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Abia State University, argues that the country’s wage history demonstrates how successive increases have struggled to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Nigeria’s national minimum wage has moved from ?125 in 1981 to ?18,000 in 2011, ?30,000 in 2019 and ?70,000 in 2024. While each adjustment represented an increase in nominal earnings, the real value of those wages has been eroded by inflation and the rising cost of essential commodities.

According to Ubani, the problem has become more pronounced following the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange-rate fluctuations and the consequent increases in the prices of food, transportation, housing, healthcare and other necessities.

The result, he argues, is that workers may receive higher figures on their payslips without experiencing a corresponding improvement in their living conditions.

This is why he considers the proposed transport allowance particularly revealing. Although the intervention may offer temporary support, he questions the logic of a situation in which the government has to provide a monthly allowance equivalent to the national minimum wage to help workers meet transportation costs.

For him, the allowance should not be mistaken for a sustainable solution to the wage crisis. He believes Nigeria should begin a more deliberate transition from minimum wage to living wage, one that reflects the actual cost of maintaining a decent standard of living.

A living wage, in his assessment, should take account of decent accommodation, nutritious food, transportation, healthcare, education, utilities and the ability of workers to save or respond to emergencies.

Ubani proposes ?200,000 monthly as a reasonable negotiating target, while emphasising that the figure should be considered alongside an independent assessment of the cost of living, productivity, inflation and the capacity of employers to pay.

His argument is that wage determination should no longer be reduced to negotiations over a figure that may quickly lose its value. Rather, it should be guided by evidence of what workers and their families need to live with dignity.

For Dr Tommy Etim Okon, former Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and former National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), the recurring minimum-wage negotiations have become an increasingly familiar national drama.

A new wage review generates excitement and expectations among workers, but the eventual outcome frequently falls short of what they consider adequate to meet their needs.

Okon, a policy and labour expert who is also a critical stakeholder, argues that Nigeria must move beyond this cycle of periodic adjustments and confront the broader economic questions that determine whether workers can enjoy decent living conditions.

In his view, the country should be discussing a living wage within the context of holistic economic development rather than concentrating almost exclusively on the amount the government and employers can add to monthly salaries.

He argues that the debate should extend beyond the organised workforce to include informal-sector workers and other vulnerable Nigerians who have little or no bargaining power.

For him, a wage policy that focuses only on workers covered by formal employment arrangements risks excluding a large segment of the population whose livelihoods are equally affected by inflation and the rising cost of living.

Okon proposes ?300,000 as a starting point for the living-wage conversation, although he acknowledges that any wage arrangement must be considered against economic realities and the capacity of employers to sustain it.

He does not, however, regard the figure as a substitute for the structural changes required for decent and sustainable wages.

His argument is that the government must reduce the cost of living by providing essential public goods and services that workers currently struggle to afford.

Affordable mass housing, accessible healthcare, basic education, efficient public transportation and other essential services, he maintains, would reduce the financial burden on households and make workers’ earnings go further.

Rather than leaving individuals to shoulder virtually every cost of survival, the government should create conditions in which public services provide some of the support required to maintain a decent standard of living.

Okon also questions the capacity of the Nigerian economy to sustain substantially higher wages without addressing its underlying weaknesses.

He acknowledges that the government has room to streamline the cost of governance, reduce wastage and redirect public resources towards productive activities. However, he argues that the challenge is more fundamental, pointing to an economy that imports much of what it consumes and has not developed sufficient productive capacity.

In such circumstances, wage increases may provide immediate relief but could become difficult to sustain if domestic production, investment and productivity do not improve.

His position, therefore, places economic restructuring at the centre of the living-wage debate. For him, the country must build an economy capable of generating the resources required to support its workforce rather than repeatedly relying on wage adjustments to compensate for deteriorating living conditions.

Dr Edmund Onwuliri, immediate past Acting Director General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), approaches the question from the standpoint of evidence-based wage determination.

He argues that the minimum-wage debate should be guided by a proper assessment of household expenditure rather than the selection of figures without a clear understanding of what workers actually need.

In his view, the starting point should be to determine the cost of maintaining a household, taking into account food, accommodation, education, healthcare, transportation, electricity, water, clothing and other essential expenses.

He believes relevant government institutions, including the National Bureau of Statistics and appropriate ministries, should provide credible data to support such an assessment.

For instance, he suggests that the cost of feeding a family of five, paying annual rent, meeting school expenses and accessing healthcare should be calculated before negotiators arrive at a wage proposal.

The objective, he explains, should be to establish the actual financial requirements of a household and use the findings as the basis for negotiations between organised labour, government and employers.

To illustrate his point, Onwuliri gives a hypothetical example in which a household requires ?1 million monthly to meet its essential needs. Negotiators could then use that assessment as a basis for determining a figure that employers and the economy can reasonably sustain. He mentions ?500,000 as a possible negotiated outcome in that illustration, not as a formal wage demand.

For him, the critical issue is that wage negotiations must be informed by measurable living costs rather than arbitrary figures or political considerations.

Onwuliri also challenges the perception that workers’ welfare should be treated merely as an expenditure burden on government and employers. He argues that adequate remuneration is an investment in productivity, efficiency and national development.

According to him, a worker who spends much of the day worrying about how to feed the family, pay transport fares or meet basic household expenses may find it difficult to give the job the attention and commitment required. Conversely, workers who enjoy reasonable financial security are more likely to be motivated, productive and committed to their responsibilities.

He, therefore, believes employers should recognise the relationship between workers’ welfare and organisational performance instead of focusing exclusively on reducing labour costs.

While acknowledging that employers must consider profitability and business sustainability, he argues that this should not become an excuse for keeping wages disconnected from the cost of living.

Onwuliri also calls for the early constitution of the minimum-wage negotiation committee to allow sufficient time for consultation, research and engagement before the next statutory review. He is particularly critical of temporary interventions such as the six-month transport allowance, arguing that transportation is only one component of workers’ financial burden.

Even if the allowance provides some relief, he says, ‘it does not address the cost of rent, food, education, healthcare, electricity and other household necessities.’

The wider implication of the three labour experts’ arguments is that Nigeria’s wage challenge cannot be resolved by treating salary increases as an isolated labour issue.

The debate must also confront the economic environment in which wages are earned and spent. For instance, a worker whose salary increases may still experience declining living standards if food prices, rent, transport fares and healthcare costs rise faster than the additional income.

This means that the value of a wage is determined not only by the amount paid but also by the purchasing power it commands.

A living-wage framework would, therefore, require a more comprehensive approach to wage determination, including regular monitoring of inflation, household expenditure and changes in the cost of essential goods and services.

It would also require a credible mechanism for protecting workers’ purchasing power between statutory wage reviews.

However, the proposals raise important questions about affordability and the capacity of employers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to meet substantially higher wage obligations.

For the private sector, wage increases that are not matched by improved productivity, access to finance, reliable electricity and a supportive business environment could place additional pressure on businesses, especially those already struggling with high operating costs.

This concern does not invalidate the demand for better wages. Rather, it reinforces the need for a wage policy that is connected to a broader economic strategy.

The government must address the structural conditions that make production expensive, discourage investment and limit the capacity of businesses to employ and remunerate workers adequately.

Improved electricity supply, efficient transportation networks, affordable credit, support for agriculture, accessible healthcare and investment in education and skills development would help strengthen productivity and reduce the cost of doing business.

Affordable housing and functional public transport would also reduce the proportion of workers’ earnings consumed by basic survival expenses.

There is equally a need to strengthen social protection so that workers outside formal employment are not excluded from efforts to improve living standards.

The informal economy accounts for a substantial part of Nigeria’s workforce, yet many of its workers have no guaranteed minimum earnings, organised bargaining arrangements or access to employment-related protections.

A living-wage conversation that ignores them would, therefore, remain incomplete.

Another important consideration is the relationship between wages and productivity. Although workers’ remuneration should reflect their contribution and the cost of living, productivity cannot improve sustainably when workers are unable to meet basic needs.

The three labour experts, from different perspectives, point towards the same policy contradiction: government and employers expect workers to deliver higher productivity, but the economic conditions confronting many workers make that expectation increasingly difficult to meet.

The challenge is, therefore, to create a system in which decent wages, productivity, business sustainability and economic growth reinforce one another.

For organised labour, this also calls for a broader negotiating strategy. Beyond demanding higher figures, unions may need to press for transparent household-cost assessments, stronger enforcement of existing wage agreements, improved social protection and regular engagement with government on the factors driving inflation.

For the government, the responsibility extends beyond announcing wage increases or temporary allowances. It includes creating an economy in which workers can afford the necessities of life without depending on periodic emergency interventions.

The proposed ?70,000 transport allowance may offer some temporary relief to eligible public servants, but its significance goes beyond the immediate financial support. It has exposed the inadequacy of a wage structure in which the cost of one essential need can consume an amount equivalent to the national minimum wage.

Ultimately, the question confronting Nigeria is not simply whether workers should earn ?200,000, ?300,000 or another figure. It is whether the country is prepared to build an economic and social system in which wages can provide more than bare survival.

Ubani’s ?200,000 negotiating target, Okon’s ?300,000 starting point and Onwuliri’s insistence on a data-driven assessment offer different entry points into that conversation. Their positions underline the need to move away from arbitrary wage bargaining towards a framework informed by household needs, economic realities and the capacity to sustain decent employment.

Until that happens, every new minimum-wage agreement risks becoming another temporary reprieve, followed by another struggle as prices rise and purchasing power falls.

For Nigerian workers, the ultimate measure of a wage increase is not the announcement made at the negotiating table or the figure printed on a payslip. It is whether, at the end of the month, they can feed their families, pay their rent, access healthcare, educate their children and retain enough to live with dignity.

My eyes are misty as I write this. I have spent the better part of the morning listening repeatedly to one of the tracks of that gifted Yoruba gospel musician, Olayemi Bayonile Bolaji, known on stage as Toluwanisings. The 34-year-old was nature’s human carving of an Àwòko for the listening pleasure of humanity. Toluwanisings was the nightingale, the mockingbird of sacred song. The nightingale holds a sacred placement in Yoruba avian symbolism. Àwòko is the peerless soloist of the forest, gifted with an unmatchable range of sweet cadence.

This human nightingale hailed from Ikirun, Osun State, the ancient town that houses Akinorun Grammar School, where I spent a memorable chapter of my secondary school education. Toluwanisings passed away suddenly a few weeks ago, on October 14, 2026, after collapsing on the staircase of his Ibadan, Oyo State residence. He had just returned from an exhilarating worship concert titled In His Presence.

The palaver generated by his sudden departure is immense, disturbing, and deeply instructive. It calls to mind that timeless Swahili proverb which says, on the day a monkey is destined to be killed by a prowling wild cat, every tree it clings to becomes slippery. How does a man who sang so confidently about conquering postpartum human mockery and the conceit of hypocrites suddenly, barely a month after departing this mortal space, become the chief victim of these very wicked forces?

In that particular track that drew hot tears down my cheeks, he sang with prophetic defiance: ‘The machinations of the enemy will not triumph over me/Satan will never rejoice over my life/Heavens will not regret lifting me high/My sunlight will not be eclipsed by darkness/I saw Satan fall like lightning/The dragon was conquered by the power of our testimony/Satan will not celebrate the fall of a mighty man/My giant will not become a pygmy, as the Lord lives.’

I translated the above searing, tear-jerking lyrics from his verbatim Yoruba rendering that goes thus: ‘Ero?ta ko ni?el? mi l’ori/InuSatani ko ni dun l’ori aye mi…/?run o nik’abam?p’ohungbe mi ga…/Im?l? mi ko niw?l’okunkun…/Emi riSatani to ?ub?bim?nam?na/A ?egunDragoni nipa ?r??ri?nuwa/Satani ko nis’aj?y?p’alagbara?ubu/Omiran mi o nid’ararab’Oluwati n b?.’

Posthumously, however, it would appear that the very machinations Toluwanisings prayed against have encircled him like the enveloping grips of a boa constrictor. The invisible demons of this world seem to be celebrating his passage, while those who should have protected his memory – including members of his immediate and extended family – have perfected plans to reduce this musical giant into a pygmy in the court of public opinion. On the day Toluwanisings passed, every road led to the imagined blood the prowling cat spilled out of the Swahili monkey. All the monkey’s renowned tree-climbing theatrical skills became effete in an instant. The most knowledgeable became the most foolish, and the most celebrated became the most vulnerable.

Toluwanisings’ death and the social media conceit that followed confirm the age-long wisdom of our forebears: if the well-known acrobatic tree-to-tree escape from its foes meets the monkey on plain, treeless ground, the creature becomes as helpless and vulnerable as any ordinary mammal. Ancient Yoruba wisdom packages this as: ‘Bi igi o ba sunm? igi, ?m? ?dun a d’ope’ – when trees fail to stand close to one another, the young monkey loses its agility and becomes a big-time fool.

Before we even examine Toluwanisings’ tragic post-death drama, we must confront the horrifying circumstances surrounding his final hours. It was a familiar Nigerian tragedy that unfolded: the gospel musician slumped in his home; medical attention was fatally delayed and ultimately denied, and Àwòko flew away with his melodious voice.

For decades, Nigeria has grappled with the twin evils of hospital emergency management – systemic negligence and outright rejection – which have consumed some of the finest minds and sweetest voices of our country. Added to these is the third evil: the notorious refusal by hospitals to treat emergency and gunshot victims without police reports. Added together, they constitute an unfeeling bureaucratic cruelty that continues to send citizens to early graves.

Reports indicate that as Toluwanisings fought for breath upon slumping, he was rushed to approximately seven to eight different hospitals across the city of Ibadan, including the apex federal tertiary institution, the University College Hospital (UCH). Each institution either rejected him outright or presented one administrative excuse after another. They passed the dying artist around in a macabre game of medical hot potato, until the Owner of the leash on the goat’s neck finally pulled it into eternity.

Predictably, social media collapsed under the weight of anger and unfeeling cross-examinations. Àwòko’s sudden, needlessly avoidable silence provoked widespread outrage online, as netizens poured bile on Nigeria’s broken health infrastructure. They then resurrected that haunting, tragic national shibboleth: May Nigeria never happen to us.

Yet, the moment Toluwanisings’ eyes closed to open in eternity, the conversation shifted from the systemic failure that killed him to a toxic, voyeuristic dissection of his personal life. The posthumous uproar and needless media harangue attending Toluwanisings’ passing and burial sound so absurd. They bear a striking resemblance to the dark spectacle that followed the death of Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, widely known as Mohbad, in 2023.

Mohbad was just 27 years old when he died on September 12 of that year. A talented singer and songwriter too, his death detonated a complex web of controversy, ranging from allegations of Lagos music underworld bullying and assault to disputes over the paternity of his infant son, coroner’s inquests, and disgraceful family squabbles over his estate. For years, that young boy’s corpse remained trapped inside the dark coldness of the morgue, suffering endless postponements while living relatives traded insults on social media.

The Mohbad spectacle reminded me of the decades it took for the secrets of Asipa Oyo, AmudaOlorunosebi, to be covered by Il? ?g?r? Af?k?yeri – the earth’s crust. Gruesomely murdered on his Oyo Alaafin farm on November 26, 1992, with acid poured on his body by his assailants, he remained unburied for seven years, until November 26, 1999. Il? ?g?r? Af?k?yeri is not a mere descriptive phrase; it is a sacred metaphysical name the Yoruba gave to the earth and soil. To our ancestors, the earth is not a passive, inanimate natural resource or mere dirt under our feet; it is a living, conscious, spiritual entity possessing an interconnected affinity with the divine. The earth-crust is venerated as the ultimate, considerate concealer of the human creature’s secrets when life is done.

Instead of allowing Il? ?g?r? to grant Toluwanisings that sacred cover immediately after he breathed his last, his family members from Ikirun began to heap mounds of hot ash on his memory. For weeks, public attempts were made to paint him as an ungrateful child who abandoned his father, lavished his fortune on his wife’s family, and lived a hypocritical life of a wolf in a sheep’s clothing.

In the heat of this online trial, the question of where his body should be interred morphed into a bitter public war. While his widow favours a quiet, dignified burial in a modern cemetery, his father and patriarchal relatives insist on burying him either inside his newly completed Ibadan residence or beside his late mother’s grave in Ikirun – warning that otherwise, Ir?l?, Ikirun’s deeply venerated ancestral guardian deity and mythical god, would unleash its mortal strike. There is nil consideration for Toluwanisings’ young wife and two little girls, except their patriarchal ego and inflated manhood. The contestations has become messy, laughable, and – pardon the word – utterly idiotic. A man who spent his life crafting melodies to heal broken hearts became, in death, a piece of bone fought over by dogs.

If we take a step back from our local grief, however, we will realize that this posthumous hubris is not unique to contemporary Nigeria. Throughout music history, the corpses and legacies of legendary artists have passed through remarkably similar, sordid corridors of greed, hypocrisy and family warfare.

Take the case of my revered musical totem, Winston McIntosh, known to the world as Peter Tosh. By the way, I ported from his friend and arch-rival, Bob Marley, to Tosh when I discovered Tosh’s boundless depth, poetry and philosophy were way out of Bob’s. Sorry, I digressed. Peter was the uncompromising co-founder of The Wailers whose posthumous Grammy recognition celebrated his genius. Shot in the head during a violent home robbery on September 11, 1987, Tosh’s death immediately triggered a chaotic funeral planning process marred by a thick confetti of familial, religious, and political conflicts.

As Tosh’s body was being prepared for interment, two different men suddenly surfaced claiming to be his biological father. One was Alfred McIntosh, backed aggressively by Tosh’s common-law wife, Marlene Brown; the other was James McIntosh, who was eventually confirmed by Tosh’s grieving mother, Alvera Coke, as his father. A fierce feud erupted over his burial site between Marlene Brown and his mother. While Brown insisted on her legal right to manage the funeral, his mother demanded that her only child be brought back to her home parish of Westmoreland. Because the Jamaican state did not legally recognize common-law marriage, the government handed the body to Tosh’s mother.

Tosh’s funeral descended into utter madness. As a devout Rastafarian who spent his life denouncing the hypocrisy of state institutions, the attempt by the Jamaican government to dominate Tosh’s official state funeral sparked protests. How could the same ‘Babylon’ that hunted Tosh to death – whose polais-mon (police) cracked his skull for smoking ganja – be same mourner shedding crocodile tears at his funeral? His Rastafarian brethren thus turned the funeral into a raucous, chaotic demonstration. To compound the surreal drama, a self-proclaimed prophet marched up to the casket, unlidded it in front of the congregation and fruitlessly chanted commands for Tosh to ‘rise from the dead!’

Read the rest on www.tribuneonlineng.com

Similarly, the tragic end of Apala music legend, Ayinla Omowura, in May 1980 saw a battle over the soul and body of the man who prided himself as the nightingale – a bird the Yoruba also call the Olóbùró. Culturally, the Yoruba appellation for this ancient bird is that it has 200 voices (?y? olóbùró ní ohùn igba), with its famed beautiful, endless repertoire of songs that come in loud, bold vocal variety. Apologies: I digressed again. Stabbed in the head with a heavy beer glass during a barroom brawl in Ago-Ika, Abeokuta, Omowura died of cranium damage. Though born a Muslim, he was notorious for ignoring daily Islamic prayer rituals. His Itoko home was a haven for traditionalists and fiery masquerades, most notably his personal masquerade named Tankurubaku. His open indulgence in cannabis and violence was also legendary.

Upon Omowura’s killing, the conservative Islamic clerics of his Itokoneighbourhood staunchly refused to administer the Salat al-Janazah (Islamic funeral prayer) on his body, declaring his lifestyle un-Islamic. It was only after community elders reminded the clerics of Omowura’s massive, anonymous financial contributions to their local mosque that the religious leaders reluctantly assented to perform the rites.

The Western world offers equally bizarre examples of squabbles over artists’ corpses. Elvis Presley and James Brown followed that trajectory, with their passages shrouded in ruckuses. When Presley, the ‘King of Rock and Roll,’ died of cardiac arrest on August 16, 1977, he was buried in a mausoleum at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis. Shortly after, police arrested four men who had broken into the vault attempting to steal his corpse in order to extort millions of dollars in ransom from his estate. His body had to be exhumed and reburied in a heavily guarded, fortified garden at Graceland.

Similarly, when James Brown, the ‘Godfather of Soul,’ died on Christmas Day in 2006, his body remained unburied for months in a temperature-controlled room while his children and his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, waged a vicious legal battle over the validity of their marriage, control of his multi-million dollar estate, and the choice of his final sepulchre.

Perhaps the most bizarre posthumous spectacle occurred following the 1973 drug overdose death of country rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Prior to his death, Parsons and his road manager, Phil Kaufman, had made a secret pact: whichever of them died first would be cremated by the other in the high desert of Joshua Tree National Park. Thus, when Parsons died, his stepfather, Robert Parsons, attempted to hijack his body for a private burial in Louisiana to secure control over the musician’s estate. Kaufman responded by posing as a mortuary driver at Los Angeles International Airport and stole the coffin from the hangar. He then drove it out to the Joshua Tree desert, poured five gallons of petrol over the corpse, and set it ablaze. Kaufman was later arrested; however, the charge of cadaver theft against him in court couldn’t stand because it wasn’t explicitly classified as a crime under California law at the time. Kaufman was merely fined $300 for the theft of the wooden casket!

What these global cases reveal is a disturbing, universal human impulse: society is deeply, structurally unfair in its posthumous assessment and handling of artists.

When a musician is alive, we consume their talent, exploit their vulnerabilities, and demand that they serve as vessels for our inspiration, our worship, or our entertainment. But the moment breath leaves their lungs, we strip them of their human dignity. The living descend, like vultures, upon their corpses – relatives fight over property, fans trade salacious rumours, religious institutions pass sanctimonious judgments and the public turns their personal tragedy into cheap online entertainment.

Toluwanisings spent his short life crafting songs that offered solace to thousands. He sang of triumphing over mockery, of light piercing through darkness, and of giants refusing to become pygmies. Yet in death, he became temporarily trapped in the very noise, malice, and belittlement he spent his career singing against.

These are my questions for Toluwanisings’ sabre-rattling uncle, who has become the mythological social media dragon breathing out fire and brimstone over the preferred site of his burial: Does he know that, upon cessation of breath from the nostrils, the living body has no more worth than a log of wood? Why prioritize a log of wood’s welfare over that of the living?

Whether Toluwanisings is buried in the finest sepulchre on earth like Michael Jackson (whose crypt burial site at the Great Mausoleum-Holly Terrace in Forest Lawn Memorial Park cost $590,000 for the crypt title alone, out of a total private funeral cost of more than $1 million) or the modest cemetery replica of where President Umaru Yar’Adua was interred, like every man, maggots will feast on the body a few days post-interment.

Why compound the pain of a widowed young woman who would have to daily agonize as she wakes to see a cryptic grave that was once her ebullient husband? If there is a need to sell Toluwanisings’ new house, especially to finance his young kids’ education, does this uncle realize that a home used as a burial site could bring down its value? The obvious reality is that Toluwanisings’ paternal family is locked up in the ancient patriarchal view of a woman as chattel and unworthy of inheritance, especially since it is obvious that she might remarry.

Society must learn to give the departed their peace. The dead cannot defend themselves, nor can they respond to allegations whipped up by living relatives or social media prosecutors. It is time we let Il??g?r?Af?k?yerido its sacred work of covering the secrets, the flaws, as well as the bones of the departed, in a modest time frame – human foibles which all the online prosecutors also possess. By doing so, we would allow the art of the dead and not their human limitations, echo into eternity.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has claimed that no Igbo businessman was arrested in Lagos during President Bola Tinubu’s tenure as governor of the state.

Kalu made the claim on Saturday at the flag-off of the APC Women’s Mobilisation Campaign and South-East Women Empowerment Programme by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in Enugu.

He said the people of the South-East had unanimously agreed to support the re-election of Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027, adding that the region’s immediate political priority was to support a president who had demonstrated commitment to the Igbo people.

Kalu recalled that Tinubu, during his tenure as Lagos State governor between 1999 and 2007, appointed people of Igbo extraction into his administration.

He said, ‘This man has not hidden his love for Ndi Igbo. During his time as the governor of Lagos State, no Igbo property was taken. Nobody who was a businessman in Lagos was arrested. Mr. Ben Akabueze was an Igbo man that he brought into his cabinet as Governor. It has never happened before. I hope we will reciprocate his kind gestures to Ndi Igbo. We must do so this time’.

The Deputy Speaker, who is also the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council 11 (South), said successive administrations had failed to fulfil the post-civil war promise of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reintegration for the people of the South-East until Tinubu assumed office.

He cited the signing into law of the South-East Development Commission Bill as evidence of the President’s commitment to the region, noting that the bill had remained pending in the National Assembly for several years.

Kalu said, ‘I also need to remind you that after the civil war, we waited for almost 60 years for a promise that was made to the people of Igbo land that was not kept. The 3Rs: Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Reintegration. Was the promise kept or not? It wasn’t kept.

‘Government after government, but they ignored us. Administration after administration, they ignored the Igbo, and we were waiting and asking, when will the messiah come to save the Igbo? Then came a man who loves the Igbo from his heart.

‘South East Development Commission Bill has been in the Parliament from year to year, Assembly to Assembly; they refused to sign it into law. But when President Tinubu came, the South East Development Commission became a commission under the law. Tinubu is a warrior, a great President,’ he said.

He added that the President was constructing roads and bridges and providing scholarships and loans, while the First Lady’s empowerment programme was supporting women in the region.

Kalu urged residents of the South-East to turn out on January 16, 2027, to vote for Tinubu and Shettima, insisting that the region had no alternative candidate.

He said, ‘To this end, I am appealing to Ndi Igbo: come January 16, 2027, we don’t have any other candidate. The Igbo are complete. The governors are complete. Abia is here. Enugu is here. Imo is here. Anambra is here. South East is complete. Ndi Igbo have unanimously agreed that we will return President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima in 2027 to continue their good work,’ Hon. Kalu said.

The Deputy Speaker also argued that the South-East should not accept a four-year presidential arrangement, saying the region had waited for decades while other regions had held the office for eight years.

He said, ‘Others have had it for 8 years and we have waited for too long, almost 60 years. Is it fair for us to do 4 years? Those who want Ndi Igbo to do only 4 years, it will not work. Just like others who did 8 years, when it is our turn, we will also do 8 years because what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.

‘But for now, our mandate is to support the man that has been supporting us. This man has not hidden his love for Ndi Igbo,’ the Deputy Speaker said.

A Lagos State school teacher, Busayo Victoria Adeyemo, has emerged as the grand prize winner of the 2026 Maltina Teacher of the Year Competition.

Adeyemo, who teaches at LanreAwolokun High School at Gbagada, was unveiled at the grand finale and awards night held on Friday at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

For her performance, she received a ?10 million cash prize, a brand-new Honda HR-V, and an all-expense-paid overseas capacity development training. Additionally, her school will receive a ?30 million infrastructure project built in her honour by the competition’s organiser, the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund.

Yusuf Cariyat of Wisdom International School of Excellence, Abuja, emerged as the first runner-up, taking home ?5 million. Ephraim Jacob Inyangudo from Comprehensive Secondary School, Akwa Ibom State, secured the second runner-up position, winning ?3 million.

Organised to identify and celebrate outstanding educators across Nigeria, the initiative is run by the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund in partnership with Union Bank, Air Peace, Eko Hotels and Suites, and Honda Manufacturing Nigeria Limited.

The event drew prominent figures from politics, academia, banking, diplomacy, and manufacturing. Notable attendees included President Bola Tinubu( represented by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro; Lagos State Governor BabajideSanwo-Olu; Minister of Education Tunji Alausa; Chairman of the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund, Thibaut Boidin; the First Lady of Lagos, Dr IbijokeSanwo-Olu; the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, Dr Muhammad Idris; the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, MrsBimbolaSalu-Hundeyin;

Lagos State Commissioner for Basic Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun; and the Chairman of the Lagos State wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Hassan Akintoye.

In her acceptance speech, an ecstatic Adeyemo expressed deep gratitude for the recognition. ‘I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to teach, inspire, and make a tangible difference in the lives of my learners,’ she said.

Governor Sanwo-Olu commended Nigerian Breweries Plc for its sustained investment in the education sector and its commitment to honoring educators. He described the competition as a highly credible platform for celebrating teaching excellence.

In his address earlier, the Chairman of the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust and Managing Director of NB Plc, Mr Thibaut Boidin, said teachers planted seeds in the classrooms and that it took years for positive outcomes to grow.

He acknowledged that teachers’ impact on the education system travelled far beyond the classroom and society, adding, ‘It is an act of serving the nation. NB sees the service you render and will continue to reward outstanding teachers.’

On INEC and voters’ register matters, INEC has admitted that its own registration officers introduced AI-generated photos into the voters’ register. What is ADC-PCC’s immediate demand beyond a forensic audit?

First and foremost, I think they must identify those staff because it means that those staff cannot be entrusted with the 2027 election. And we have only three months to the 2027 election. So, first and foremost, those staff must be identified, investigated and prosecuted. It’s not enough for INEC to come out and say its staff were responsible. Who are these staff? Who are they? Did they fall from the sky? Also, don’t forget that the issue of the back-end of INEC’s system has been a subject of debate. There are non-state actors and individuals who have access to the back-end of INEC. They didn’t say anything, and they didn’t do anything about it, but now they are saying that their staff are the ones responsible. What type of staff are they? Are they the regular staff or the non-state actors who had access to their back-end the last time? I think INEC has played its game in a manner that is making it increasingly challenging to entrust the 2027 election to its care. I think that, beyond identifying these staff, they have to clean up the system in a manner that Nigerians can trust INEC. That, too, is also very, very important. They must clean up the voters’ register. And I don’t know, why is it difficult for a commission that describes itself as independent to act independently? Why is it difficult?

Should INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, take personal responsibility for this breach?

He has to take personal responsibility because it all happened under his purview. And it is not the responsibility of Nigerians to go and look for the staff who are responsible. He must produce the staff who are responsible and must also take personal responsibility because the election is in his care. It is entrusted to him. It’s in his care. So, whether he wants to take personal responsibility or not, Nigerians believe, and they will demand, that he must take proper responsibility for whatever befalls the process.

ADC has accused INEC of self-sabotage and laying the grounds for the postponement of the 2027 elections. Do you have evidence of a plan to shift election dates?

Well, it is not about whether there’s evidence or not. It is on the streets. People have been talking about it for some time: that there are plots to postpone the election. That is what people are saying everywhere you go: that there is a plot to postpone the election. And, as you can see, our presidential candidate has come out to challenge it. Our party has also come out to say that this should not happen. Okay, what other evidence are you going to search for if INEC has accepted that its own staff have sabotaged it? Or don’t you understand what they mean when they say that their staff are responsible for the AI issue? Don’t you understand what they mean? They have accepted self-sabotage. Also, don’t forget that in the last couple of weeks, there were promoters of the idea that INEC should be allowed to use AI for the election. Some people even went further to argue that it is the same thing as BVAS and others. So, you can see the process. From the beginning, people who are not INEC staff have had back-end passwords to INEC’s system. We have graduated from there to the level where we are now talking about some of INEC’s staff being responsible for the use of AI. This is just a few weeks or months to the presidential election.

On the economy and Tinubu’s borrowing, you challenged President Tinubu to show what his administration has built with loans. Are you saying all the projects listed by the Federal Government – Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway – don’t exist?

Have they been completed? Where is the completion of the projects? Which of the projects have been commissioned? Let’s check it out now. Is it in the power sector? Mr President went to Brazil to promise mechanised farming. Is that not what he promised in 2023, that he would introduce mechanised farming? He went to Brazil and brought back 2,000 tractors. In a country with 774 local governments and a population of over 200 million, he brought back 2,000 tractors. If you divide that by 774 local governments, I’m not sure you can get up to three tractors per local government. Is that how you build mechanised farming? It’s all up to you. There’s a popular saying in the government sector that whatever you want to drop for Nigerians, just drop it. It’s not up to you. Just talk about it, and it comes to an end.

Your statement asked the National Assembly to stop being a rubber stamp for loan requests. What will ADC do differently on borrowing if you win in 2027?

When ADC is elected into office in 2027, experience counts for us. Fairness counts for ADC. Equity counts for ADC. So, we are not going to abandon Nigerians by simply borrowing money without even using that money to the advantage of ordinary people. I think that is the issue. As we also said in that statement, it is not entirely bad to borrow money. But how does it reflect in the lives of Nigerians? How? Because what the government is running is like audio governance. I recall that on May 29, 2023, when the President was sworn in, I said on a popular Nigerian television station that the President came with an empty file and had no plan. The moment he declared that subsidies were gone and gone forever, without taking briefs or receiving any form of briefing, I said he came without a plan. And every day, it is becoming evident that this government came into office without a plan. He doesn’t have a blueprint. He came in with campaign jargon. And that’s why they jump from one thing today to another tomorrow. In the last four years, there have been no concrete achievements that you can point to. None. They haven’t achieved 70 per cent project implementation since 2023 till today.

On the ADC coalition and presidential ticket, the coalition parades Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Seyi Makinde, Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai and others. How will ADC manage presidential ambition to avoid implosion before 2027?

I think that’s a matter of strategy, which I’m not prepared to let out of the bag as we are speaking now. You understand? I think that’s purely a matter of strategy. What the coalition will do, whether it can come together or whichever way it will go, is a matter I want to leave to those who are working on it. It’s strategic.

On Thursday, Cardinal John Onaiyekan urged the opposition to unite under G100. Is ADC part of that G100 coalition, and what is your working relationship with its leaders?

That question shouldn’t be directed to me because I speak for the campaign. I don’t speak for the party. I think it’s Bolaji Abdullahi who speaks for the party, or our presidential candidate or the national chairman, who can speak authoritatively about that.

On party leadership and strategy, as Media Adviser to Senator David Mark, what is the National Chairman’s strategy to position ADC as the main opposition party ahead of PDP and Labour Party? Do we have competition among the opposition political parties? I don’t want to believe that we have competition among the opposition political parties. I think what is necessary, and what is important at this stage, is for us, as opposition political parties, to focus on the direction that will better enable us to win elections on a common ground. And I think that if you look at a survey, as we speak presently, the party that is leading among the opposition political parties is the African Democratic Congress.

ADC-PCC has been very vocal against INEC and the Tinubu administration. Is this opposition for opposition’s sake, or do you have alternative policies you are presenting to Nigerians?

Why are you asking this question at this hour? We, as the African Democratic Congress, have a presidential candidate who was the first to come out and say that the lives of young Nigerians can be made better than they are now. Clearly and unambiguously, he has spoken about affordable living. Everybody, every household, including you, my dear brother, and everyone else, is crying and complaining. Everybody is facing the challenges of hunger, healthcare, paying for health services and insecurity. Wherever you turn in the country today, there are challenges that Nigerians need to confront. And Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the ADC, the African Democratic Congress, has come out and said, look, the way we are living now, subsidy is gone and gone forever. Life has become miserable. And for three and a half years, going into the fourth year, there has been no improvement in any way. And he said, look, we can bring back subsidy and make life meaningful because oil is central to the life we live in this country. Wherever you turn, people, including the barber on the street and the vulcaniser on the street, depend on fuel. So, I should tell you that the rate at which we are buying fuel has become unaffordable for the ordinary Nigerian. Let us introduce subsidy in a manner that will make life better for the ordinary Nigerian. So, we can’t be talking about, oh, which policy? The direction of thought of the ADC presidential candidate is clear. When he says something, everybody follows, even the people who say they are running the government. It’s when Atiku comes out and speaks about the economy that they also respond. They say, okay, they will also do this. They will also make life affordable. For three and a half years, nobody has been talking about affordability. For three and a half years, they have been saying that subsidy is gone and gone forever. They even lie to us now that if we bring back subsidy, a dollar will be equivalent to N4,000. When we asked them for the model, they ran away.

INEC is expected to certify the final register by December 15, 2026. If irregularities remain, will ADC go to court to stop certification?

He will not be able to certify that register if he himself has admitted fraud in the process. How would you expect them to certify the voters’ register when they themselves have admitted fraud in the process? They have also promised to clean up the register. So, we wait for the cleaning.

You demanded that INEC disclose the contractors handling sensitive materials. Do you suspect partisanship in the printing of ballot papers and result sheets?

You see, the way the commission is operating, it will do anything to satisfy the interests it is pursuing. So, our demand is in line with the hope that we can have an election that will be free, fair and credible. That’s our disposition in ADC. And we will follow INEC as it stays on the street, bumper to bumper, to make sure that we have a credible electoral process. We can assure Nigerians of that.

What are the chances of ADC, especially its presidential candidate?

Oh, the chances of our presidential candidate are very bright. He is the only one who has a national pathway to the 2027 election. He’s the one who cuts across every zone and every region. Experience counts for him. Equity counts on his side. And fairness also counts on his side. So, he is the candidate out there to beat because he is running on a national pathway.

Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos, Jimmy Odukoya, has introduced his new wife, Mo Odukoya, to members of the congregation, days after sparking speculation about his remarriage on social media.

The introduction took place during the church’s Sunday service on November 1, 2026, where the cleric announced his decision to remarry after remaining single for years.

Odukoya’s announcement follows a social media post in which he shared a photograph of two hands wearing rings with the caption, ‘To New Beginnings.’ The post had generated speculation among his followers about a possible remarriage.

Providing further details about the marriage, Pastor Tunde Bakare of The Citadel Global Community Church, who conducted the marriage blessing in the United States, introduced the bride to the congregation.

Bakare revealed that Mo is the daughter of Reverend Theophilus and Bolaji Daniel, adding that she would henceforth be addressed as Pastor Mo Odukoya.

Jimmy Odukoya, who is also a Nollywood actor, was previously married to Kemi Odukoya, and their marriage produced children.

He became the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church after the death of his father, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, who passed away on August 7, 2023.

Troops of the Joint Task Force North West, Operation FANSAN YAMMA (OPFY), have rescued 11 kidnapped victims during separate operations in Ribah town and the Wasagu-Falfala general area of Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi.

The rescue operations were disclosed in a statement made available to Defence Correspondents in Abuja on Sunday by the Acting Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force, Captain Tamuno Sinivie.

According to the statement, troops of Sector 2 responded to a distress call on October 30, 2026, following reports that suspected terrorists had blocked the Ribah-Dirindaji road while attempting to invade Ribah town.

It explained that the troops, upon arriving at the scene, discovered that the assailants had fled with seven persons, prompting an aggressive pursuit towards Rambo village.

The statement said the pressure mounted by the troops forced the terrorists to abandon the victims, who were subsequently rescued.

The rescued victims were identified as Sa’adu Bala, 53; Nura Musa, 25; Dantami Yahyi, 57; Nasiru Muhammad, 21; Abdulakeem Abubakar, 23; Abdulahi Maikudi, 32; and Zaki Gambo, 56.

It said all seven victims were indigenes of Ribah town and had since been reunited with their families.

Similarly, on October 31, troops of Sector 2, while conducting a routine patrol in the Wasagu-Falfala general area to protect residents and deny terrorists freedom of movement, came under attack from terrorists who had laid an ambush along their route.

The statement said the troops responded swiftly, engaging the attackers with superior firepower and forcing them to flee.

It added that during a subsequent search of the area, the troops discovered four kidnapped victims who had been abandoned by the fleeing terrorists amid the exchange of fire.

The victims were identified as Lawali Ali, 20; Samaila Shaibu, 14; Kasimu Shaibu, 20; and Aliyu Bala, 18.

According to the statement, the four victims, who are residents of Wasagu village, were subsequently handed over to the village head.

The task force said troops had continued to dominate the general area and sustain confidence-building measures to prevent further attacks and protect residents going about their legitimate activities.

It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting law-abiding citizens and critical infrastructure within its area of responsibility, while urging members of the public to provide timely and credible information to support ongoing security operations.

National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu, has called on residents of Imo, to join the Rainbow Coalition, describing the platform as a political movement aimed at changing the state’s political direction ahead of future elections.

He made the call at the weekend while addressing residents of Ikeduru Local Government Area during a reception organised for the Imo East Senatorial candidate, Prince Eze Madumere.

Anyanwu said the Rainbow coalition, which he coordinates in Imo, brought together the PDP and other political stakeholders across party lines, including members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to pool their political structures towards what he described as rescuing the state from an unproductive administration.

According to him, the coalition was established to provide a common platform for stakeholders seeking political change and improved governance in Imo State.

‘Rainbow Coalition has come to stay in Imo State. There is nothing anyone can do. Those causing disaffection and fanning the ember of discord do that at their detriment. For us in PDP, the aim is not to cause political disharmony, or heighten tension in Imo State,’ he said.

Anyanwu said the coalition was committed to addressing what he described as selfishness, greed and insensitivity in the administration of the state, which he alleged had caused hardship for residents.

He commended former Governor Rochas Okorocha for embracing the coalition, stressing that the task of addressing the state’s challenges required the collective efforts of political stakeholders and residents.

The PDP national secretary also claimed that the coalition was attracting increasing interest from people across different political parties, adding that its leadership was making efforts to manage the growing number of prospective members.

‘Imo people are desperate to join the Rainbow Coalition, and the number of people interested to join the coalition are from different political parties. The number is increasing on daily basis and we are tactically managing the surge,’ he said.

He described the development as an indication of growing public interest in the coalition, claiming that many residents were seeking an alternative to the current administration.

Anyanwu further pledged that the coalition would oppose actions capable of undermining the progress of the state, while calling on political stakeholders to work towards addressing insecurity, hardship and governance challenges.

‘We are prepared to stop any individual or group of persons working against the progress of Imo people or deliberately causing chaos, or hardship in the state under the guise of governance,’ he said.

He urged residents to participate actively in the political process and demand accountability, justice, and improved governance in the state.

The member representing Yewa North/Imeko-Afon Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, has unveiled a 150-page development blueprint outlining a long-term vision for the economic and social transformation of the constituency.

The document, titled The Living Borders, was presented to stakeholders at Comprehensive High School, Ayetoro, Ogun State, as part of an engagement convened by the lawmaker to articulate a development pathway for the two local government areas over the weekend.

The development agenda, which followed extensive work on the constituency’s opportunities, challenges and development priorities, is intended to serve as a reference document for identifying its economic advantages, addressing existing gaps and providing direction for sustainable growth.

Speaking at the presentation, Isiaka described the initiative as an expression of what he called ‘development-focused representation’, arguing that meaningful development required a clear plan capable of connecting present interventions with the aspirations of future generations.

‘We know that we cannot do development without a plan. We need a strong development plan, development agenda or development guide, and we need a positive development guide,’ he said.

Explaining the thinking behind the document, the lawmaker said the objective was to identify and bring together the advantages and opportunities available to the constituency in a manner that could guide collective action and development planning.

He stressed that the pursuit of development must take account of both immediate needs and the long-term consequences of decisions taken today.

‘Developing is when you have the best of the day without compromising what the future will be like. That is exactly what we are trying to do and what we are aiming for,’ he said.

Among the major issues highlighted in the development agenda is the economic potential of the constituency’s international border with the Republic of Benin. Isiaka advocated the establishment of a free trade zone to enable Yewa North and Imeko-Afon to derive greater economic benefits from their geographical position.

He also identified the need for tertiary institutions in both local government areas, describing access to higher education as an important component of human capital development and the creation of opportunities for young people.

The proposals reflect the broader ambition to reposition the border communities as centres of economic activity, with improved infrastructure, education and investment opportunities.

The public presentation also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to engage with the development proposals and contribute their perspectives on the constituency’s future. Representatives of the Community Development Committee, traditional institutions, the League of Imams and Alfas, and the Christian Association of Nigeria participated in the interactive session.

The gathering included traditional rulers, Baales, former and serving lawmakers, All Progressives Congress chieftains, religious leaders, artisans, traders and youths.

The unveiling was also accompanied by an account of Isiaka’s four-year representation in the House of Representatives. He said his constituency interventions had covered all 21 wards, with projects and programmes spanning healthcare, education, infrastructure, empowerment, skills acquisition and employment.

He listed among the interventions the construction of a mini stadium and police station in Oja-Odan, provision of boreholes in six communities, installation of 1,200 solar streetlights, renovation of primary healthcare centres and the ongoing construction of a Computer-Based Test centre, which he said was 95 per cent complete.

The lawmaker said the development agenda was intended to provide a broader framework for the constituency’s progress, beyond individual projects and interventions.

He urged residents and stakeholders to take ownership of the development vision and work collectively towards its realisation.