Opinions

The Nexus Between Ekiti State Homeland Intelligence Agency and Ekiti State Security Architecture: Interrogating the Security Threat and Institutional Responses to the Challenges

Published

10 months ago

April 23, 2024

Being a Paper Presented to Ekiti Diaspora Town-Hall Engagement on Security and Intelligence by ADETUNBERU, Oludotun. (PhD), Director General, Ekiti State Homeland Intelligence Agency on Sunday. 21th April, 2024.

Introduction
Homeland Intelligence Agency was established on 25th October, 2023 by His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji with a vision towards “building a robust intelligence capacity in protect Ekiti State from internal and external threats” and with a mission ” to achieve an improved internal security framework through dependable information gathering system, strategic vigilance and community collaboration that seeks to protect and preserve the safety, well-being, and prosperity of all residents in Ekiti State.
Homeland Intelligence Agency advance evidence for information collection, processing, analysis, dissemination and feedback from policy-makers to identify and mitigate threats to Ekiti State.
Therefore, the major focus of Ekiti State Homeland Intelligence Agency is to provide the Chief Security Officer of Ekiti State Government (Mr. Governor) with in-depth intelligence needed to keep the Homeland safe and secured in order to drastically reduce security risks of her citizens, focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland, whether from terrorists, non- state actors, or cyber, financial, political and or economic criminals.

From the above the mission and the vision of the Agency expressly established the Nexus between Ekiti State Homeland Intelligence Agency and Ekiti Security Architecture at a glance.

Hagen-Zanker, Gagnon & Murray (2024). Noted, that Governments around the Globe are increasingly conscious of the importance of diaspora networks to boost and foster sustainable development, primarily in their countries of origin.

Hagen-Zanker, Gagnon & Murray (2024). Claimed further, that “in 2018, the Global Compact on Migration established the creation of conditions that allow diaspora networks to contribute to sustainable development through the transfer of skills, social capital and financial resources as a key objective”. And diaspora engagement is increasingly prioritized in national development strategies, with many impressive initiatives under way. In lieu of this, security of motherland fosters the impact of Diaspora contributions toward the development of their native communities and as such, intelligence sits on the core of sustained security in the State.

Security Threat in Nigeria
Considering the level of Security threats either in the past, present or in the future; it is important to have basic knowledge of the Security threat battling Nigeria as a State.
Nigeria is 15th most vulnerable in 2023 fragile states index.

According to SBM intelligence tracking, 2,371 Nigerians were killed in the 1st quarter of 2024 with 123 of them being security agents (Punch 19th April)
Nigeria has encountered high level of insecurity in some parts of the country in recent years as a result of terrorism, inter-communal conflicts, criminal banditry, kidnapping, among other challenges. It is not an understatement to say that Nigeria is under siege of violence and insecurity.
The issues of insecurity are multifaceted and multidimensional; The reality of the problem is that security has remained on the exclusive, not concurrent or residual list. Therefore, the chain of commands is centralized by various security agencies.
The heightened and spate of insecurity in Nigeria, and the southwest as a region in particular where kidnappings, herder-farmer conflicts, organized crimes such as armed robberies, ritual killings, cybercrimes, commercial motorcyclists unethical conduct among others have been occurring at alarming rates, there is need for urgent action to mitigate the spate of crimes highlighted above in the most decisive and effective way.

Ekiti State being one of the most peaceful Sates in Nigeria witnessed surge in organized crimes.
It could be recalled that on 13th December, 2023, armed assailants descended on the office of Western Nigeria Security Network code named Amotekun in Ikere Ekiti and killed two officers of Amotekun, a strategy adopted to instill fear and destabilize the existing security architecture before invading two new generation banks with explosives and sporadic shooting in quick succession without any security challenge.
On Monday, 29th January, 2024, armed bandits ambushed three traditional rulers at a spot in Oke-Ako/Irele road of Ikole-Ekiti, shot two Traditional leaders dead while the third monarch managed to escape from the armed marauders. On the same day, three teachers and five pupils of Apostolic Faith School, Emure Ekiti were also kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be criminal herders; the two unfortunate incidents occurred concurrently while State Security Council meeting was ongoing with His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.

It is pertinent to note that the two murdered monarchs were respectively in charge of security council within their domains, the late Kabiyesi HRM, Oba (Dr) Olutunji Samuel Olusola the Olumojo of Imojo-Ekiti was the traditional ruler in charge of the Security Committee of Oye Local Government, while the late Elesun, HRM, Oba Ogunsakin Babatunde David, the Kabiyesi of Esun-Ekiti was also the Vice Chairman, Security Committee of Ikole Local Government coupled with HRM, Oba Sunday Adebayo Fatoba, the Alara of Ara in Ikole Ekiti who escaped the deadly attack seats as the Chairman Security Committee of Ikole Local Government.

A day after, while Ekiti people were still mourning the gruesome murder of these Royal Fathers, the armed assailants went to Koro, in Kwara State, a border town to Iyemero town in Ekiti State and assassinate the Olukoro of Koro, HRM Oba Segun Aremu-Cole, abducted his wife and escaped from the town. On the 6th of February, the Elepe of Ohi-Ogidi in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Chief Ojo Olayinka, was equally murdered by yet-to-be-identified gunmen. It is no coincidence that the Kabiyesi, Olukoro of Ikoro was as well the Chairman Security Committee of Ekiti Local Government in Kwara State. The scheme of killings exposed possible targets of security combat monarchs in Yoruba land by armed assailants to send strong signals and create extreme degree of fear in the axis.
It is within our knowledge that over a decade, the North-East region has been engulfed with unending act of terrorism enveloped in severe humanitarian crises and displacement of indigenes as a result of Boko Haram insurgency vis-à-vis Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Due to the unrelenting engagement by the Nigeria military, the armed assailants migrated to the North Central region but with the current military bombardment, it is predictive that south-West region may likely feel more heat because the criminals will be sorting for safe haven with limited military operation. The proximity of Ekiti State, Ondo State with North Central region rendered it as passage route to the southwest.

For instance, Osan, Otun, Erinmope, Aye Oja, Eda Oniyo, Isan, Ilemeso, Iyemero, Irele are all Ekiti Towns that shared border with Kwara State i.e, Ekanmeje, Imoji, ilale, Obo- Ajegunle, Koro, Obeile, Eruku, Ponyan, etc. Most of these border towns are in the rural areas with enormous forest reserves, farm settlements and limited security personnel, rendering most of the towns porous.
This is equally applicable to Kogi State with bordered towns of Omuo-Oke, Ilasa, Ipao, Odo Ayedun, Irele all adjoining Iyamoye, Alu, Igbagun, Igbo-ele, Jege, Ogbe in Kogi State. In the same vein, Ondo State bordered Igbara, Ikere, Emure Ahan Omuo, Iro Ayeteju but on Ibuji, Iju, Supare Akoko, Oke-Agbe, and Irun Akoko respectively.
Above towns are contagious red zones where criminal herders migrating from the north are settled to perpetrate their nefarious activities.

EMANATING THREAT
Kogi State has a very big uninhabited landmass and shared border with many States such as Benue, Enugu, Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo States and FCT. Reasonable number of bandits domiciled in the region, therefore the possibility of easy access to Southwest Nigeria through Kogi State is very high.
Pls bear in mind that river Niger took its source from Guinea highlands, flows through Mail, Niger and terminate in Nigeria. The river is a big access for arms transportation. The possibility of proliferation of light weapon and arms transportation through small vessels vary the river is very high therefore, providing an habitat for criminals as it has been reported that they have many criminal cells in their forests.

Need I remind you, that river Niger took its source from Guinea highlands, flows through Mail, Niger and terminate in Nigeria; the river is an open access for arms transportation. The possibility of proliferation of light weapons and arms transportation through small vessels ferrying the river is very high; therefore, providing channel for criminals as it has been reported that they have many criminal cells in their forests.

However, His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has approved our interactions with neighboring States to discuss with the Local Government Chairmen from the adjourning States to come up with suitable modalities on how we can safeguard our territories through joint border patrol, intelligence synergy, joint forest combing exercise and other areas of community policing and collaboration. To further achieve this, His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji established Ekiti State Forest guard with a directive to collaborate with Security Agencies in flushing out kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state.

Flowing from the above, it is pertinent to mention that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently gave Nigeria Armed Forces express order to crush bandits and other elements terrorizing Nigeria.

It is important to equally commend other conventional security agencies for their efforts thus far, particularly, the Nigeria Police Force Ekiti State Command, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, as well as western security network (Amotekun) in Ekiti State, the Vigilante Groups, local Hunters’ Association, Peace Corps and other various security networks emplaced by all the Local Government Chairmen in Ekiti State to safeguard their domains.
2. Justice System as agent of security threat.

Nigeria is faced with an unprecedented wave of different but overlapping security crises from kidnapping to extremist insurgencies; with rigor and tireless effort in arresting notorious criminals for prosecution, many of these criminals are either freed or given light jail terms which in return discourages the security agencies while these elements mostly return to the criminal world. Our justice system is in need of reforms as the hope of the common man; political pardon through Attorney General across the country also contributes to the already tensed society, while most victims of these crimes are sometimes scared of coming up as witnesses to many cases of rapes and kidnapping.

04. COMBATING CRIMINALITY
Detection and mapping of areas where all or some of these crimes are concentrated, otherwise known as crime hotspots, are very important in the context of technique/approach usually adopted.
For instance, the law enforcement agencies usually carry out geographical analysis with a view to establishing crime hotspots through the use of crime pin maps of reported crime events over a given period. Prior to recent advances in geospatial technology, law enforcement agencies typically placed coloured pushpins in wall maps to visualize individual crime events and examine the spatial distribution of crime locations. There is a paradigm shift away from this popular approach to crime hotspots detection. The advent of geospatial techniques and its applications to crime control and management has provided greater opportunities for not only mapping of crime but also allowing the analysis of hotspots over a period of time and shift in the location of hotspots over time.
I wish to inform my audience that Homeland Intelligence Agency is currently reviewing all the crime spots across 16 Local Governments and 19 Local Council Development Areas as approved by His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji for effective forest combing and patrol.

It is vital to use this good opportunity to inform this gathering of Mr. Governor’s proactiveness to issues of insecurity which is highly commendable, we secured the release of all the six School pupils kidnapped by non-indigene armed assailants and their Teachers, three in numbers and within a week, arrested criminals involved in the killings of our high revered monarchs as they have been charged to court as required by law.

Ekiti State Government is currently addressing the issues of Herders /Farmers clashes and farm destructions, all the Directors of farm settlements, Director of afforestation, managers of farm- settlements in Ekiti State held meetings recently as directed by Mr. Governor and concrete plans are already in place to further checkmate the criminal activities of the non-indigene settlers on our farm settlement, while the anti-grazing law is in enforcement as directed by Special Adviser on Security Matters.

It should be noted that Ekiti State has ten forest reserves and five big farm settlements apart from the land border, all these reserve forests and farm settlements are linked up to neighboring States, for Instance, little Ose forest, Eporo forest, Ise forest, Ikere forest, are reserved forests linked to Ondo State, and Edo State. Ogotun forest and Egbe are linked to Owena in Osun State and Irun Akoko in Ondo State respectively. Also, the Gede farm settlements located in Ayede spanning to Ilemeso, Itaji, Omu, Itapaji, Ipao to Iyemero farm settlements linked up to Kogi and Kwara States. We also have Osin, Orin farm settlements.

Ekiti State Government has made efforts to further beef up the security network around our primary and secondary schools against invasion by the armed assailants especially in contagious border towns in Ekiti State.
I may not be able to disclose other strategies deployed in the open for security reasons but I can assure you that, His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji is not only in charge but fully on top of the game and at the moment Ekiti State has regained her status as one of the most peaceful State in Nigeria. The rate of kidnapping and other associated crimes has reduced drastically and to the barest minimum level.

Evil that befalls once neighbors create a signal to be prepared for eventuality; the already defeated kidnapping incidents in Ekiti may likely resurface if proactive security strategies are not sustained in the face of unnecessary influx of unfamiliar herdsmen roaming our forest and farms with impunity. However, there is need for dynamic security structure to face of the impending menace as our forest may also stand as safe haven to armed miscreants and like minds ascribable to sense absent of security personnel in the domain.

05. SECURITY WELFARE AND DEPLOYMENT
Ladies and gentlemen, at this juncture, we need to access and assess the Nigeria Police Force. I shared the view of the current Inspector General of Police when he noted that Nigeria is under policed.
I regret to say this but it remains my personal position, It is very unfair that past leaders in Nigeria have under equipped the Nigeria Police Force, instead of strengthening the capacity of the Police, they ended up balkanizing it and today we are all bearing the consequences of our actions.

Nigeria currently is estimated to be 250 million whereas, Nigeria’s current police strength is barely over 370,000 personnel which is insufficient based on a ratio of one police officer to about 600 citizens whereas, the UN-recommended ratio is one police officer to almost 450 citizens.
To meet up with the benchmark, Egbetokun said the Federal Government needs to increase the annual recruitment quota of police personnel from 10,000 to 20,000 and currently the Nigeria Police Service Commission is just conducting the 2022 recruitment exercise in the month of April 2024.

“The Nigerian Police requires an additional 190,000 personnel to be at par with the United Nations recommendation,” he said.
As Egypt with population of about 108 million has Police Force of about 1 million, the addition of Nigeria Military and Nigeria Police is not even up to a million put together with many ungoverned spaces according to Senator Ali Ndume.

Currently, we are clamoring for State Policing when we don’t have the capability and capacity to fund and maintain the existing structure; unfortunately, Nigeria Military is overstretched and overwhelmed due to political office holders. For a long period of time, the Nigeria Army has taken over the duty of the Nigeria Police Force with limited focus on protecting the territorial integrity of Nigeria State against external aggression and internal subversion.

The constitution has created conflict of duties among the security agencies, such as Nigeria Police Force, (NPF), Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Road Safety, Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), with overlapping schedule of duties and conflicting interests.

Lastly.
Ekiti State is the smallest State by area in south-west and as such, should maintain and enjoy adequate security; secure her borders and motivate farmers cultivate her fertile land without apprehension of attacks by criminal herdsmen roaming the forest. With the challenges discussed above, security of our dear state is a collective responsibility of both residents and Diasporas; Diasporas should as a matter of urgency assists in funding both State and Federal security agencies in the state. Just recently, Ekiti State Government acquired 30 Hilux vehicles for security surveillance and patrol. We also have responsibility to collaborate with government in crime prevention as been done in Lagos State, where stakeholders, industries and diaspora gives support through Security Trust Fund.

It has been established that southwest region retained the most peaceful region in Nigeria as at today among the six geopolitical regions in Nigeria.
Ekiti Diaspora are known assets to their host countries, on that template can influence and bring forth development of tech-security to their homeland; we must not wait until Ekiti State becomes death trap to citizens and dwellers alike.

The limited fund accrued to the State coupled with handful internally generated revenue may deprive the State of needed high standard modern security equipment such as: drones, technical Intelligence apparatus and other surveillance cameras systems to effectively policing of our unique state. With huge diaspora base, I solidly believe your financial and material assistance will seal the vacuum.

The IKOGOSI warm spring is not just a pride to Ekiti State but Nigeria at large, with huge resources spent in remodeling the spring; adequate and assured security will certainly, transform it to world tourists’ friendly location which in turn, help improve IGR of Ekiti State.
Security as the base of development, Homeland intelligence Agency is at the forefront of permanently sniffing out criminal elements from our State; securing the boundaries and ensuring lasting peace across board.

Opinions

Between Japan’s Kaizen philosophy and Nigeria’s National Values Charter

Published

4 days ago

January 31, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Two days after DeepSeek took the world by surprise, a Financial Times report warned that the West should be worried by how China appears to be leading the Artificial Intelligence race.

Financial Times says the emergence of DeepSeek from the shadows, catching the West unawares, is a strong indication that China has mastered the art of ‘Kaizen’.

I recall that my first encounter with Kaizen, the philosophy that underpins the rise of Japan as the Asian economic powerhouse, is about 10 years now.

Societies like China, Japan, and South Korea that anchor their development models on their culture and value systems continue to break new grounds and are far ahead in innovation and human advancement.

At the heart of Japan’s success, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors, is the work ethics that are firmly rooted in the Kaizen philosophy. ‘Kaizen’ is a Japanese word that means continuous improvement or change for the better. The quest for excellence and attention to detail have been weaved into the social and moral fabrics of Japanese society as a matter of obligation.

It is this philosophy and social imperative that the Japanese take into product designs and execution. It is, therefore, not surprising that the world sees continuous improvement in every new edition of Japanese products like Toyota automobiles.

The concept of Kaizen became popular in the United States by the 1980s when it was discovered that the performance of Japanese companies was much better than their American counterparts. It became apparent that the difference between Japanese and American companies in terms of effectiveness and operational efficiency was the application of the Kaizen principle.

Kaizen philosophy is similar to the Yoruba Omoluabi ethos. Every major ethnic group and subculture in Nigeria and Africa has its own equivalent of such value systems.

We can only imagine our pace of development and progress as a country if we develop a national value system around the virtues of excellence, honour, and integrity. This means our workmen and women will pursue excellence as second nature in everything. Politicians will embrace public service as a matter of honour, and citizens will accept integrity as an article of faith in undertakings.

Our society is hemorrhaging as a result of value degradation. It is heartbreaking how badly we have drifted because we neglected our cultural values and practices that served as the guiding principles of society.

It is the responsibility of leaders at all levels to direct society to embrace enduring values that edify and promote human development. I believe we can still recover lost grounds. This is why the efforts being made by the Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu-led National Orientation Agency to re-ignite a new wave of consciousness through the National Values Charter should be appreciated and promoted. The values charter has already been approved by the Federal Executive Council. President Bola Tinubu is leading this renewed effort to push value re-orientation to the forefront of public policy and national development agenda.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity

Opinions

Tinubu’s quest to overcome the power sector gridlock

Published

2 weeks ago

January 20, 2025

Seyi Babalola

By Temitope Ajayi

Angered by the appalling situation of Nigeria’s electricity supply sector over several decades of doing the wrong things by successive governments with no remedy in sight, even after hundreds of billions of public funds had been expended, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 chose a different path that had worked in other jurisdictions.

He reached out to the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help solve the protracted power gridlock in Nigeria. The discussion between the two leaders gave birth to the FG-Siemens Energy AG Presidential Power Initiative in 2019. Under the terms of the agreement of the Nigerian Electrification Roadmap, Siemens Energy would ramp up electricity generation in Nigeria to 25,000 megawatt in six years, in three phases, from an average of 4000 megawatts the country had been stuck with for decades.

President Buhari was quite bullish about the project such that he put it under the direct supervision of his office with his Chief of Staff, late Abba Kyari, as the directing officer. The former president who didn’t want the project to be derailed by bureaucratic bottlenecks and red-tape made sure all man-made obstacles and deliberate obstructions were bulldozed with Abba Kyari in charge.

The unfortunate demise of Kyari in 2020 arising from Covid-19 while in Germany to get the power project underway rolled back the speedy implementation of what would have been a game-changer in Nigeria’s elusive quest for a stable and reliable power supply. Nigeria’s economy had been blighted by years of poor electricity supply. From available records, Federal Government has spent over $30 billion dollars to revamp the sector in the last three decades without any substantial progress. The economy is run on generators with Nigerians spending a staggering $10billion dollars (N7.6 trillion) annually on petrol and diesel to run their generators including the cost of maintenance, according to a 2024 report, “Beyond Gensets: Advancing the energy transition in Lagos State” published by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).

True to his campaign promise to build on the achievements of his predecessor across all sectors and improve on governance performance in areas where it is required, President Tinubu, in demonstration of his unshaken believe in continuity of governance, took on the FG-Siemens Power Project as part of his priority projects in the energy sector.

It is necessary to state that this all-important power project had suffered undue delays since July, 29, 2020 when the Federal Executive Council approved the payment of €15.21m and N1.708bn as part of Nigeria’s counterpart funding for the offshore and onshore components of the project.

Managing Director, Siemens Energy Nigeria, Seun Suleiman, was quoted as saying then that, “Siemens Energy is committed to working with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the FGNPowerCo to see a successful implementation of the presidential power initiative. We have successfully carried out a similar project in Egypt.

“This project will transform the energy landscape of the country, and we are grateful the government has entrusted us with this notable initiative. We are capable, and we will deliver excellent results.”

In 2021, FGN Power Company, the Special Purpose Vehicle established by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the implementation of the PPI, announced the commencement of the grid network studies and power simulation training for technical experts in the Discos, TCN, NAPTIN and NERC, including provision of specialized power simulation softwares for TCN, NERC and all Discos. By December 2024, more than 100 experts across the sector have been trained on power systems simulation and network planning with skills to better manage the grid operations at various levels.
In the same year 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the contract for the supply of 10 mobile substations and 10 power transformers by Siemens Energy for quick reinforcement of the grid as part of the pilot Phase of the project. Reports by FGN Power Company indicate that all the equipment have since been supplied and installed across the country.

However, the overall pace of the project delivery in terms of meeting timelines has not been impressive.

On assumption of office, President Tinubu saw the need to continue with the project and how timely delivery can transform the power sector for a country that desperately needs a reliable power supply for industrialisation and grow its economy. The status of the project came up at a bilateral meeting between President Tinubu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the latter’s working visit to Nigeria in August 2024 in Abuja. At a follow-up engagement in Dubai in December 2024 during COP28, the Nigerian Government and Siemens Energy AG signed an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve electricity supply in Nigeria. The agreement that was signed by Kenny Anuwe, Managing Director/CEO of FGN Power Company and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, was witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.

Under the accelerated performance agreement, Siemens Energy will see to the end-to-end modernization and expansion of Nigeria’s electric power transmission grid with the full supply, delivery, and installation of Siemens-manufactured equipment.

Furthermore, the agreement will ensure project sustainability and maintenance with full technology transfer and training for Nigerian engineers at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

In a major demonstration of President Tinubu’s commitment to the power project and a positive shift towards execution, the President led the Federal Executive Council on December 16, 2024 to approve €161.3 million Euros for the execution of the contracts in the first batch of the Phase one of the projects across the country following earlier approval of the transaction by the Bureau of Public Procurement.

Addressing journalists after the FEC approval, an enthusiastic Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, with the renewed vigour to deliver on the project said, “at the Federal Executive Council meeting, there were basically two approvals for the Federal Ministry of Power, as I presented. The first was actually an approval for the award of contract for engineering, procurement, construction and financing for the implementation of the 331 32 KV And 132 33 KV substations upgrade under Phase One of the Presidential Initiative, popularly known as the Siemens project consequent upon completion of the pilot phase of this project.

“So, the Federal Executive Council considered it necessary for us to move forward as promised by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at a meeting he held with the President of the Republic of Germany.”

The latest FEC approved scope of work includes upgrade of TCN substations in five locations of Abeokuta (330/132/33kV), Ayede (330/132/33kV), Offa (132/33kV), Onitsha (330/132/33kV) and Sokoto (132/33kV). These substations were carefully selected as Batch 1 of the brownfield scope of the Phase 1 projects to increase the wheeling capacity of the transmission network grid.

In the same vein, FGN Power Company will implement assets upgrade and enhancement in the distribution networks, in collaboration with the Distribution Companies (Discos) to ensure last-mile delivery of the evacuated power to industrial customers and residential consumers. These locations are load centres that are currently underserved and require swift enhancements. The execution of the project will be fast tracked and completed under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

It’s important to state that the FGN Power Company has started working on other priority brownfield and Greenfield projects in target load centres across the country. Special attention is also being paid to the execution of systems and products to enhance grid resilience and stability to reduce the frequent occurrences of grid disturbances.

In December 2024, Minister of Power Adelabu commissioned the mobile substation in Saapade, a suburb of Shagamu in Ogun State. This has enhanced power evacuation and delivery to industrial customers within the Shagamu hub. Similarly, another mobile substation was commissioned at the Ajibode area of the University of Ibadan to enhance power delivery to the university community and adjoining areas. Before then, mobile substations and power transformers have been commissioned and energized in Ajah Lagos, Mando Kano, Jebba Kwara State, Okene Kogi, Amukpe Delta, Potiskum Yobe, Apo Abuja and Ihovbor Edo.

While the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative is going on, President Tinubu has equally inaugurated the Presidential Metering Initiative, which aims to increase the rate of smart metering of all customers in a commercially sustainable manner. The roll out of the metering solutions has started. It is expected that the combined impact of assets upgrade through Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) and metering through the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), coupled with efforts of subnational electricity markets will bring lasting solutions to the challenges of electricity supply in Nigeria.

With President Tinubu’s committed leadership, the parlous state of the power sector will be reversed, and Nigerians and the economy will experience a new lease of life with reliable electricity supply that will geometrically increase productive activities. Indeed, the president’s strategic approach to resolving the multifaceted challenges in the power sector is yielding visible results. The restructuring of the tariff regime, intervention in the commercial imbroglio on gas supply, additional investments in infrastructure through PPI, enactment of the new Electricity Act which provides legal framework for further decentralisation of the sector and devolution of more responsibilities to the subnational governments, are all part of the renewed hope agenda for the power sector to bring sustainable solutions.

-Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity

Opinions

Kemi Badenoch: It’s time for a Rethink

Published

1 month ago

December 29, 2024

Seyi Babalola

By Tunde Rahman

Kemi Badenoch’s ill-advised denigration of Nigeria has refused to go away. Her belittlement of the country of her ancestry is still generating passionate public discourse within and outside the media space, and it appears the matter will not go away anytime soon.

Exasperated by Kemi Badenoch’s misguided attacks on Nigeria, Vice President Kashim Shettima recently counseled her to drop the Kemi in her name and bleach her ebony skin to white to further appease her Tory party and British establishment. And perturbed and seemingly lost by all that, my daughter, Kemi Mushinat, who recently graduated in Communication Studies, asked what was wrong with the name Kemi. There is nothing wrong with the name, I explained. But a lot is wrong with Kemi Badenoch (Nee Adegoke), the Leader of the British opposition Conservative Party, who opted to behave, as the Yoruba would describe it, “bi omo ale to fi owo osi ju we ile baba e”, meaning like a bastard who would go out to denigrate her ancestry by pointing the offensive finger at her roots.

Honour and dignity are inherent in the name Oluwakemi, indeed in any name. But what confers dignity, what glorifies a name, is the character the bearer brings into it. Kemi Badenoch left much to be desired, disparaging Nigeria, our motherland. She painted a gory picture of her growing up years in Nigeria from the middle of the 80s to around 1996, highlighting stories of poverty, infrastructure decay, decadence, corruption, police excesses, and leadership failure. Perhaps some of her narratives could be true, particularly in the time that immediately followed the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) misrule and the indiscretion of the emergent military regime. However, her stories reek of generalisations and prejudices often associated with most analyses by a section of Western media and commentators. They view Nigeria with their jaundiced lenses, describing the country as made of a Muslim North and Christian South, oblivious of the various Christian minorities in the North and, the plethora of Muslims in the South and the multiplicity of ethnic groups in the two divides that make a mockery of any analysis of a monolithic North or South. They view us Africans with many unproven, unorthodox assumptions.

My problem is with Mrs. Badenoch, an African, whichever way you slice it, and the character she has chosen. When Vice President Shettima lambasted her for demeaning Nigeria, Kemi Badenoch thought she had a clincher:

“I find it interesting that everybody defines me as Nigerian,” she said. “I identify less with the country than with the specific ethnicity (Yoruba). That’s what I am. I have nothing in common with the people from the North of the country, the Boko Haram where the Islamism is; those were our ethnic enemies and yet you end up being lumped in with those people.”

In that statement, the Tory leader disavowed Nigeria and excoriated the North but exalted the Yoruba. She repudiated the whole, attacking one part of the nation but embracing another. Kemi Badenoch grossly misfired, hiding under the finger of ethnic nationalism.

Perhaps it would have been pardonable if, for instance, she opposed Nigeria’s federal system and canvassed regionalism or confederacy. To condemn one race and elevate another is like playing one part against another. That utterance is dangerous in a diverse and volatile society like ours. The North (read the Hausa-Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv, Birom, Mangu, Ibira, Nupe, and many others who cohabit the entire Northern region) is no enemy of the Yoruba as Mrs Badenoch insinuated. The North voted massively for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba man, to emerge president in 2023, as they did for the late Bashorun MKO Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12 election in 1993. To label them the enemies of the Yoruba is condemnable.

Badenoch’s Yoruba roots emphasise good character and promote good neighbourliness, religious harmony, peaceful co-existence, respect for elders, and respect for other people’s rights. That is why Yoruba intermarry with members of different ethnic groups. It’s also commonplace in Yorubaland to find members of the same family having adherents of Islam and Christianity cohabiting together without any hassles. Boko Haram or its last vestiges poses a security challenge, perhaps a religious and sociopolitical challenge, for Nigeria, not just for the North or the North-east which is why the government and our armed forces have battled to a standstill and are still battling the insurgents.

Therefore, the values the UK Conservative leader espoused did not represent the Yoruba. They are not the values the Yoruba would showcase, uphold, and promote. Yoruba has a rich history of culture, tradition, leadership, and loyalty to constituted authority.

Mrs Badenoch’s formative years, which she derided with negative stories of decadence, perfidy, and corruption, were part of Nigeria’s dark periods when the military held the country and the people by the jugular.

Is Kemi Badenoch now giving the impression that nothing has changed in Nigeria, particularly in Lagos, where she grew up after birth in London? Is she giving the impression there have not been significant improvements in the standard of living and infrastructure, with the rehabilitation of existing roads and opening up of new ones; in transportation with the multi-modal system complemented by water transportation and now the rail system, among other things? Despite its challenges, there is no doubt there has been a remarkable development in Lagos from the foundation laid by then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now President Tinubu) from 1999 to 2007 till the present Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to the point that Lagos has emerged as one of largest economies in Africa. Lagos State has made significant progress across all indices of development such that if it were a country, it would have ranked the sixth largest economy on the continent.

What has emerged in the entire Kemi Badenoch’s saga is her seeming double-face or multiple-face. When she was campaigning to represent her diverse Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency in the UK Parliament in 2010, she had appealed to the Nigerian community, comprising Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani and Igbo, under the aegis of “Nigerians for Kemi Badenoch,” pleading for help in the election. A campaign document that surfaced on social media showed she had reached out to all Nigerians in that constituency while highlighting her roots. In that document, Badenoch had said to her Nigerian supporters:

“I need your help. I’m running for parliament in the 2010 UK general elections. The race is very tight. Last year, the News of the World surveyed this constituency, and the forecast was that I would win. Things are much tougher this year as the party has dropped nationally in the polls. I need your help.

“I am asking for your help now to support a Nigerian trying to improve our national image and do something great here.”

After winning the election, however, she deployed her situation in Nigeria as a talking point to rally support for her policies, for which she was accused of exploiting her roots for political gains.

Her rhetoric has drastically changed with her emergence as the Leader of the Conservative Party. In the carriage, conduct and statements, she is now out to please the White establishment, particularly the White wing of her Conservative Party, subjugating her people to make Britain look good. She doesn’t mind running down anyone, including the Nigerian people and the British blacks generally.

Will this advance her politics or status? I do not think so. The British respect culture and tradition. Running down a country’s history and culture may not attract much attention. Britain also respects her relations with other countries, particularly Nigeria, given our age-long relationship. Nigeria is a significant trade and investment partner of the UK in Africa. According to the UK Department for Business and Trade, as of December 20 2024, the total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and Nigeria amounted to £7.2 billion in the four quarters up to the end of Q2 2024, an increase of 1.2% or £86 million in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023.

Britain would not want to harm that substantial trade partnership and excellent relationship between the two countries in any way.

Also, several Badenoch’s Conservative Party members do not share her attitude towards Nigeria. In Zanzibar, I recently ran into Jake Berry, a top Tory Party member and former Cabinet member in the UK. While discussing the Badenoch matter, he said most Conservative Party members disagreed with her.

Kemi Badenoch has recorded an outstanding achievement in two decades of entering British politics. She joined the Conservative Party at the age of 25. Today, she stands not just as the Leader of the biggest party in Britain’s history but also as the highest black person in the United Kingdom. Her extraordinary accomplishment should have been used to inspire young people to achieve similar feats and as a foundation to inspire positive change in her country of origin, not to denigrate Nigeria or cause division and disaffection among her people. It is not too late for Mrs Badenoch to rethink and toe the line of rectitude.

-Rahman is Senior Special Assistant on Media Matters to President Tinubu.