The Nigeria Police, CMR And Tinted-Glass Permits

 By Adekunle Adekoya

A little over a year ago, specifically on July 19, 2024, this column had cause to join issues with the High Command of the Nigeria Police Force over the issue of CMR, or Central Motor Registry, which the Police decreed all motorists must obtain a permit from. 

I recall a statement issued by Force spokeman, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, now DCP, which announced that the Police “will commence the enforcement of the digitalised central motor registry, e-CMR, by July 29, 2024.

“As part of the efforts of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, NPM, PhD, to enhance the security of lives and property, the Nigeria Police Force is set to commence the enforcement of the digitalised central motor registry (e-CMR) within the next 14 days, specifically on the 29th of July, 2024, — to rejuvenate and digitalize the motor vehicle registration system, significantly bolstering our nation’s safety and security framework,” the statement read in part.

Insouciant, Immoral Politicking For 2027 Elections

 By Adekunle Adekoya

A cursory perusal of the state of affairs in Nigeria today and how things are managed by the politicians in charge led me to one conclusion — we, the people of Nigeria, do not matter a jot to the politicians managing our affairs. In addition, the laws that we have in place to regulate our daily experience in many spheres of life also do not matter to them.

This is because preparations to get re-elected after the elections of 2023 began earnestly last year, a development unprecedented since the Fourth Republic was birthed in 1999. To me, that wasn’t just jumping the gun, it signalled a crazy obsession with, and yearning for power that even demagogues may not possess. Throughout last year, and continuing into this year, developments on the political landscape had to do in the main with who is defecting from which party, and to which. This year, most of the rumours became fact when the decampings started taking place, one after the other, like the sequence in a computer programme.

The Roads Not Taken On Insecurity

 By Adekunle Adekoya

If it’s not over, then it’s not over, and therefore we cannot stop talking about it. We cannot, indeed, we must not stop talking about a problem that threatens our very existence. It is trite to restate that as at this time, majority of Nigerians are feeling insecure, what with the news of  killings and kidnappings in various parts of the country continuing to dominate news headlines. Things are so bad, security-wise, that people are getting benumbed by news of killings. If Boko Haram strikes and kills people in Borno now, the reaction of an average Nigerian would probably be: “Na today?”

That reaction means we are used to getting killed by mindless, Luciferous gangs of killers on a blood-sucking mission. They are on repeated missions to kill people and execute other sinister agenda.

The Forgotten Take-Aways From June 12

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Yesterday was June 12. That date has become something else in the history of our dear country. At the risk of telling you what you what you already know, the presidential election of June 12, 1993 was adjudged by Nigerians and watchers of Nigerian politics worldwide to be the freest, fairest ever held in the country.

But sadly, the country was denied the benefits of enjoying the dividends of their freest and fairest election through a most callous annulment of that election, a development that I still cannot understand till tomorrow. Not that I was a child in 1993; far from it, in fact I had fathered two of my own children long before that election, and as a university graduate, was fully equipped to discern and witness the train of events that happened one after the other, as a practising newspaperman, till the nation was told that the election stood annulled. I still don’t understand it.

10,217 Persons Killed In 2 Years: Still Playing Games With Security

 By Adekunle Adekoya

This week, the newswires were awash with reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede has relocated to Benue State, ostensibly in a show of force following endless killings by herdsmen militias in that state. Without fear of equivocation, one can say that Benue is the most embattled of all the states of the federation, given the frequency of attacks and scale of killings in that state. 

Plateau will be second on that gruesome list. Kaduna, under Nasir el-Rufai would have trumped both, given the bloodbath that took place in that state, but something happened; there is palpable relief as the orgy of killings there, particularly in Southern Kaduna, seems to have abated. What happened in Kaduna? Can we make it happen in Benue and Plateau?

Unending Collapses Of The National Grid

 By Adekunle Adekoya

On Wednesday, the national power grid managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, collapsed for the 11th time in 2024, leaving the country in complete blackout. Some people said that it wasn’t the 11th but the 12th time, on the average, a collapse of once a month.

Data from the National System Operator, NSO, showed that as of 2pm that day, none of Nigeria’s 26 power plants was on the grid.

The Case Of Two Maniacal Looters And Our Future

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Two major reports on the anti-corruption landscape made the headlines these last few days. Both left me wondering about the mental state of the perpetrators, given the sheer scale of what they were up to.

Pix: Amazon

All of us still remember the late maximum dictator, General Sani Abacha. Since his passing, it has come to light that the redoubtable General siphoned so much money from the national exchequer that 30 generations from him would never have to work again.

GDP Growth Report: Whose Figures?

 By Adekunle Adekoya

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910). Please note that Mark Twain himself attributed it to former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Last Monday, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, released a report on the National Gross Domestic Product for Q1 2024, that is, the first three months of this year. On its website, NBS gave the following overview: Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.98% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2024.

IMF’s Doublespeak’ll Make Tinubu’s Hardship Worse

 By Adekunle Adekoya

During the work week ending today, that infamous Bretton Woods institution, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, was in doublespeak regarding the economy of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly mentioned countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, and my dear country ( I have no other!), Nigeria. 

*Tinubu

Urging Nigeria and the other countries to rethink implementation strategies of the reforms embarked on, the IMF, in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report, noted that the countries involved in deep reforms, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya, may now be experiencing what it called ‘adjustment fatigue’, while some are facing civil resistance.

Trial Of Minors: When A Dissenter Criminalises Dissent

By Adekunle Adekoya

For some time now, the detention and arraignment of under-age protesters by the Police dominated conversations at home and abroad.

In August, a nationwide protest against the harsh economic policies preferred by the federal administration led by President Bola Tinubu began, tagged #EndBadGovernance. Largely driven by social media conversations, organisers sought to mobilise the populace to register their displeasure with the way things have turned and are still turning for them. So, August 1-10 was billed as protest days. Before the day, government machinery went into overdrive, with massive resources committed to ensuring that the protests did not hold.

Toying With The Hardship Nigerians’re Going Through

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Since May 29, 2023, Nigerians have been struggling with unrelenting rises in the cost of living following peremptory removal of subsidy on petrol by President Bola Tinubu.

The much-touted ‘market forces’ have since reacted to the development most viciously, and continue to do so, with many Nigerians gnashing their teeth as it gets harder to make ends meet. What is very disturbing about the whole thing is that government has completely abandoned the people to the mercies of the market forces.

Tinubu’s Cabinet Rejig As Red Herring

 By Adekunle Adekoya

My fellow countrymen and women are incurable optimists. As the grind got harder and life became more brutish and nasty as a result of the economic policies the president chose to adopt and implement, most Nigerians continued to look at the brighter side of life, praying and hoping that things will get better.

*Tinubu
In the hope that things will get better, many started calling on the president to reshuffle his cabinet. To those making the calls, inactive ministers are somewhat responsible for the short end of the stick that government policies handed them.

Petrol Price And Economic Enslavement Of Nigerians

 By Adekunle Adekoya

AS each day dawns in Nigeria, the economic omens are getting more and more bothersome, sending  wave after wave of apprehension about how to make ends meet down the spines of most of us, except, perhaps, those permanently connected to sources of unending funds, like politicians, clergymen, and motor park operatives, known as agberos.

These three classes of Nigerians are about the only ones seemingly immune from the excruciating impact of the economic policies of the government in power. They are immune from it because the systems in which they operate is wired to generate money that they can spend at will without let and hindrance, and the sums available are simply humongous.

As Multi-Dimensional Insecurity Ravages Nigerians

By Adekunle Adekoya

Last week I opined that in terms of security, our dear nation is still at 100 level. To those who know, 100 level, in our clime, is generally used to refer to the first year of study in a university. In other countries, 100 level students, or JAMBites, here, are also called freshmen. Compared with many countries, Nigeria is a fresher in terms of security, and yes, some fellow African countries, lumped together as the Third World. Much of what goes on here is simply not tolerated next door in Benin Republic. 

On a trip to Cotonou a few years ago, I was amazed at how the gendarmes (police) there controlled traffic by merely blowing whistles. I saw, on that trip, how a truck that rammed into a street light pole on the highway was arrested and detained. I was also told that the vehicle will not be released to its owners until they have paid the cost of repairing the damaged street light pole. Here, that happens daily, and government bears the cost. In any case, most of the street light poles don’t give light, so nobody bothers.

Security: Nigeria Still At 100 Level

By Adekunle Adekoya

In the last few weeks, the global news media and the internet have been awash with the exploits of the state of Israel in the campaign against Hamas, Hezbollah and other real and apparent threats. In sympathy, Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel last Tuesday. Israel claimed most of the missiles were rendered ineffective by her advanced air defence systems called the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow.

For information, the Iron Dome is the most well-known of Israel’s missile shields, and is designed to intercept short-range rockets, as well as shells and mortars, at ranges of between 4km and 70km from the missile launcher. David’s Sling is meant to destroy longer-range rockets, cruise missiles and medium-range or long-range ballistic missiles from a distance of up to 300km. The Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems defend against medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles when they are anywhere up to 2,400km away.

As Poverty Deepens In Nigeria

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. — Aristotle (384-322 BC).

The state of affairs in our dear country, Nigeria, as at now, is simply bothersome. When an Ijebu man is finding it difficult to afford garri, which he wants to soak in water and gulp down with either a piece of meat, a cutlet of fish or a handful of groundnuts, then there is a hell of a lot of things to worry about. Two weeks ago, I was at home, in Ijebu-Ode for the burial of an in-law. Returning after the affair, I detoured to the popular Oke-Aje Market, near the Moslem Praying Ground to buy garri, which I really can’t do without.

As Politicians In Power Lie And Cheat

 By Adekunle Adekoya

“Politics is the only profession where you can lie, cheat, and steal, and still be respected.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Today, I am helplessly wallowing in self-pity and pity for my fellow compatriots as I ponder the state of affairs in our dear country. We don’t have another country, do we? Why are our politicians hell-bent on destroying this country as they pursue self-interest instead of the common good? 

Now That The Protests Have Begun

 By Adekunle Adekoya

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” — Helen Keller (1880-1968)

As I write this, we were in the evening of the first day of protests tagged #EndBadGovernance, organised by several civil society organisations in reaction to the worsening economic situation in the country. The protests were to last from August 1 till the 10th. In the seven or eight days preceding D-Day, organisers of the protests were brought under immense pressure to abort the action, with every appointee of government at both state and federal levels issuing statements on why the protests are needless.

Self-Inflicted Agonies From Flooding

 By Adekunle Adekoya

The downpour of last Wednesday, which left many parts of the country flooded, and the attendant tragedies, is still talk of the town. It is an annual ritual from which we have learnt nothing, and forgotten nothing. The octopoidal Federal Government, whose officials these days, talk more about everything but do little about anything said 21 local government areas in 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, are submerged.

Videos and pictures of flooded areas, particularly in Lagos trended heavily in the social media. It was pathetic seeing buildings and roads in parts of Lagos like Lekki, Ikeja, Agege, Gbagada and others completely submerged. And the rains have just begun, it being early July. The trending images triggered commentaries which ignited verbal exchanges.

Can President Tinubu Emulate Kenya’s Ruto?

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Earlier in the week, there were reports of massive protests in Kenya, an East African country. The protests were actually not new, having begun in 2023, in reaction to bids by the government of Kenya to raise taxes. According to the 24-hour English news channel, Al Jazeera, the protests signify a major shift in Kenya, where, previously, most people accepted the inadequacies of government.

*Ruto and Tinubu 
I dare say in that regard, Kenyans are like Nigerians as my people also swallow, lock, stock, and barrel, all the balderdash that goes on here in the name of governance. It is instructive to recall that both Nigeria and Kenya were colonised by the British. Kenya gained independence in 1963.