Information reaching Greenbarge Reporters from Kogi state indicates that the paramount ruler of Igala kingdom, HRM Michael Ameh Oboni II is dead.
According to the source, the monarch died on Thursday morning in an undisclosed private hospital in Abuja after a brief illness.
The cause of his death is still unknown as at the time of filing this report.
Before his death, he was the chairman, Kogi State Traditional Council.
Though, Kogi State government and the traditional council in Igala kingdom are yet to issue any official statement on the demise of the Paramount ruler.
Femi Fani-Kayode makes conceit solemn. He is the sui generis of narcissism. His arrogance dovetails with his foul temper and cutting tongue. There is no shade of modesty, temperance and grace in the son of Remilekun Fani-Kayode (Fani Power). The mealy-mouthed politician takes the “H” in hubris. He is the undisputed crown prince of double-speak.
I watched the video where Fani-Kayode gave a dressing-down to a journalist who asked him an innocuous question which “the Almighty” found irritating and pesky, “Who is bankrolling your tour?” That was it! Femi emptied the content of his pugnacious buccal cavity on the journalist. He called him stupid and expended minutes chopping the reporter to insignificant bits.
Femi said he had a ‘’short fuse’’ and asked the reporter to size him up because – ‘’…I am a former minister, lawyer…. Who do you think you are talking to?’’
Femi’s diatribe: “Do you know who you are talking to? What type of insulting question is that? Which bankroll, to do what? Who can give me money for anything? Who do you think you are talking to? Go and report yourself to your publisher. I could see from your face before you got here, how stupid you are. Don’t ever talk to me like that. Who do you think you’re talking to? Bankroll who? You think I am one of those ones you… from who, when, how? You have a small mind, very small mind.”
“Who is bankrolling your tour?’’ The non-toxic question that bled Femi’s poison. Femi is not a disguisable character for integrity. He is notorious in political circles as a mercenary who can serve anyone and any purpose as long as his belly gets filled. His former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he turned against after Goodluck Jonathan picked him up to wait at the table, put a stamp of affirmation on Femi’s devious constitution.
Obasanjo once said: “Femi is my boy. If you give him food, he will sing for you?’’
Femi was vicious on former president Jonathan – not until he was appointed to be the spokesman of the re-election campaign of the former president. But he spoke Jonathan to defeat in 2015.
Recently, Femi embarked on a PR tour of PDP states. He travelled to Zamfara where the governor treated him to the niceties of princes. The former minister who is a known adversary of the north – as his writings and public statements show – geared into duplicity afterwards untamed by his pursuit of pleasures.
He once put the trouble with Nigeria on the pouch of the Igbo. In his article of August 2013, ‘’The bitter truth about the Igbo’’, Femi wrote of his intimate congress with the wife of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu — an extraneous piece of information that he divulged to spite the Igbo.
He did not camouflage his bigotry and hate for the Igbo. But he started cantillating different when the Buhari administration came to power. He needed alliances from the south-east to confront the ‘’northern government’’ which pulled him to court on allegations of corruption. He became an abetting voice, albeit hypocritical, against the perceived grievances of the region. Not that he really cared about Ndi Igbo, but in President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi and a few Igbo politicians displaced from the dining table, found a common enemy.
Femi lives only for himself. He is vacant of character and principles. He stands for nothing and falls for everything as long as he gets fed. It is in this context that the question (who is bankrolling your tour?) of the journalist to Femi, should be situated. Why was he so incensed by the question? He could have simply torpedoed whatever the insinuations on the tour are with an intelligent and polite answer. Perhaps, he felt he was being ratted out? His outburst busts his pretensions.
Femi is critical of anyone who does not favour him, and his approach to opposition is both savage and irrational. He once called Buhari “an evil tyrant”. But it is clear; the politician would have been a more ruthless tyrant if was sitting on the throne. He pleasures himself insulting other people, but he brooks no opposition. He can throw blows, but cannot take them. That is the making of an aboriginal tyrant.
However, Nigerian journalists must redeem themselves from the curse of “brown envelopes”. Journalism is a noble profession, deserving of respect. Some journalists act like peasants before politicians for crumbs. So, naturally, they cannot stand up to them. But what is journalism when journalists are afraid of asking critical questions? We have to redeem ourselves. The profession is fast losing dignity and appeal.
The Bankers’ Committee has unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in Nigeria, to enable them adequately address the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing the Bank Chief Executives at the Bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee today, August 25, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele called on the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in the country, noting that such support is critical to help the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus pandemic.
Emefiele also advised the banks to support the efforts of the media industry in Nigeria to enable it to cope with the lingering pandemic, in order to avoid massive job losses in the industry.
It will be recalled that the CBN, in the advent of the coronavirus in Nigeria, announced a N1.2 trillion intervention funds to support critical sectors of the economy, N1 trillion of which was to support local manufacturing sector and to boost import substitution.
The remaining N100 billion of the intervention fund was to support the health sector in equipping laboratories and enhancing research to produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria.
The apex Bank, also in March 2020, unveiled guidelines for the implementation of a N100 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, today’s move by the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee might just be an answer to the optimism expressed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who said the ministry was hopeful that businesses in Nigeria’s aviation sector would be given opportunity to access palliatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
With support expected for the media in Nigeria, many media houses will be able to weather the storm generated by the corona virus pandemic.
As part of its effort to increase foreign exchange liquidity in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all banks in the country to submit the names, addresses and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of exporters that have defaulted in repatriating their exports proceeds, for further action.
The directive issued by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, today, August 25, during the Bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee, came barely 24 hours after the Bank announced the abolition of third-party “Form M” payment.
The move by the CBN followed the adoption of the strategy to discourage over-invoicing, which some businesses have allegedly used to divert foreign exchange from the country, through the opening of “Forms M” for which payment are routed through a buying company, agent, or other third parties.
The statement by the Bank’s Director of Trade and Exchange, Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, had also explained that the directive was aimed at ensuring prudent use of Nigeria’s foreign exchange resources and the elimination of incidences of over-invoicing, transfer pricing, double handling charges and avoidable costs that are ultimately passed to the average Nigerian consumer.
It will be recalled that the CBN, in the past, had also warned exporters conducting export activity against diverting foreign exchange from the export proceeds, instead of repatriating same home.
The Bank, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, had threatened heavy sanctions against exporters who failed to repatriate foreign exchange proceeds from their international business. The CBN stressed that its Foreign Exchange Manual provided that all exporters should repatriate export proceeds back to the country to support the local currency and boost the economy.
Meanwhile, analysts say that a number of punitive options are open to the CBN, including, but not limited to, barring the exporters from the foreign exchange market and other banking services.
President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the refocussing of his government development strategy on nine areas, apart from the determination to improve access to quality education, health care and enhance productivity.
The President, who received Letters of Credence from Ambassadors/High Commissioners of eight countries at the presidential villa, Abuja today, August 25, said that efforts are being made to sustain Nigeria’s position as profitable investment destination with unequalled incentives in all sectors, especially large market and flexible tax system which investors from various countries can take advantage of.
The President said: “in our efforts to achieve a realistic domestic and foreign policy, as well as national development, we have identified the following nine priority areas to guide our policy directions over the next few years.
“Build a thriving and sustainable economy; Enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty; Enlarge agricultural output for food security and export; Attain energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products and expand transport and other infrastructural development.
“Expand business growth, entrepreneurship and industrialization; Expand access to quality education, affordable healthcare and productivity of Nigerians; Build a system to fight corruption, improve governance and create social cohesion; and improve security for all.’’
Buhari described Nigerians as the “nation’s most prized assets,” adding that the nine priority mandates were already reflected in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, a medium-term initiative, pioneered by the government to restore economic growth and development while leveraging the resourcefulness and resilience of the citizens.
The President urged the diplomats to use the opportunity of working in the country to improve relations with their governments and people.
“I have no doubt that you might have prior and in-depth knowledge of Nigeria’s huge potential which you will hopefully see for yourselves. I therefore, urge you to go around the country, see things for yourselves and report to your home governments. This is important as you all are representatives of both your sending and host states.’’
President Buhari said Nigeria will remain steadfast in pursuing deeper and valuable relations among nations, without discrimination.
“Nigeria strongly supports joint action to ensure a democratic and fair world order based on strict respect for the norms of international law, the United Nations Charter, recognition of the unquestionable value of cultural diversity, national sovereignty, and the right of all countries to decide their future freely, without external pressure.
“Nigeria does not divide its partners into big and small; we value and respect every country, and with every country we are ready to pursue dialogue, as well as build cooperation on the basis of equality and constructive mutual respect.
“These include our cooperation in strengthening regional, continental and global peace and security, resolving complex issues, settling conflicts, as well as addressing dangerous threats to mankind, among which include terrorism, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, human trafficking, cybercrimes, poverty, communicable diseases and epidemics.’’
The Ambassadors/High Commissioners who presented their Letters of Credence are: Hocine Latil of Algeria; Luong Quoc Thinh of Vietnam; Dr Benson Alfred Bana of Tanzania; Traore Kalilou of Cote d’Ivoire; Abakar Saleh Chahaimi of Chad; Jamal Mohammed Barrow of Somalia; Brahim Salem El Mami Buseif of Sahrawi Arab Republic and Mohammed Alibak of Iran.
Speaking on behalf of the Ambassadors/High Commissioners, the Ambassador of Algeria to Nigeria said each of the diplomats brings greetings and agenda from their home governments, but the bottom line remains to enhance cooperation and seek advancement in mutual areas of interest.
“On behalf of my colleagues, we thank you for receiving us. We know that your schedule is tight. As the giant of Africa, you are always focused on resolving conflicts in the continent, while taking care of your domestic issues as well.’’
The Algerian ambassador said the African ambassadors will leverage the opportunity to further enhance implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and learn from each other.
The management of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust and other titles, has alerted the police over a threat by a former Nigerian aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode on its reporter in Cross River State, Eyo Charles, for asking a question Fani Kayode considered offensive.
In a statement today, August 25, signed by the company’s Executive Director, Editor-In-Chief, Naziru Mikailu Abubakar, the management asked the Nigeria Police to take note that if anything happens to Charles, “Daily Trust will hold Fani-Kayode responsible, especially due to the intensity of the verbal threats he issued during the shocking incident.”
The Daily Trust, which described actions of Fani-Kayode as reprehensible, constituting a setback to press freedom, in a most dire form, said that this kind of assault raises major concerns over the safety of journalists in Nigeria.
“Daily Trust is a completely independent media organisation that does not pander to the whims of any individual or group, no matter how powerful or well-placed in society. We will continue to serve Nigerians – and indeed the world – with quality, reliable reportage, no matter whose ox is gored.”
The statement recalled how Fani Kayode, in a video clip that had gone viral, verbally assaulted the reporter repeatedly for asking him who was bankrolling his recent trips around Nigeria, “to which the ex-minister responded with a raised voice, insults, and eventually a threat to inflict bodily harm on our reporter.
“The barrage continued for some minutes, while bewildered journalists, including our reporter, looked on.”
The management insisted that the question asked by Charles was totally devoid of mischief, adding that it simply sought clarification and information, like good journalism should.
“Said editing paved the way for a social media lynch mob to rain expletives on our reporter, labelling him as ‘rude’. “This could not be further away from the truth, and we stand by Charles, and commend him for his calmness during the ordeal.
“Daily Trust reporters are responsible professionals, who uphold the tenets of journalism, as well as best practices.
“That Fani-Kayode attacks a reporter doing his job, is an indication of the chilling disregard he has towards the media, and its work in investigating and reporting on issues. As always, we stand in solidarity with our reporters, and will continue to fight for the rights of all journalists. After all, journalism is part of the bedrock of democracy; therefore practitioners must not be intimidated or threatened as they carry out their work.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has condemned what it called “the gangstar-like outburst by Chief Femi Fani Kayode against the Cross River State Correspondent of the Daily Trust Newspaper, Eyo Charles who asked him a simple question which he felt was embarrassing.
In a statement today, August 25, by its national President, Chris Isiguzo, the
NUJ
said that by denigrating the journalist, Fani Kayode has exposed himself the more as an intolerant and unstable person who will not want his activities closely scrutinised by the Media.
“It is instructive to remind the likes of Fani Kayode that it is the Constitutional right of Journalists to monitor and keep a check on people and institutions in power.
“By delving into politics and holding political office, Fani Kayode is very conversant with the watchdog role of the media.
“For him to have embarked on assessment of projects in some states, even though we are yet to be told under what platform, he is doing so, it is proper for the media to hold him to account for his actions and decisions.
“His reaction was totally unacceptable, dishonourable and reprehensible and we demand for retraction of his untoward, irritating and awkward utterances which negate simple decorum and civility.
We are more shocked that the same Kayode who had in recent times, used his social media handles to call leaders to account is at the same time attacking a Journalist for a simple demand for him to unmask those behind his nationwide tour. He had already visited six states. This is indeed, terribly disappointing.”
I admire Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State for his intellectual abilities and what he has been able to achieve within the public space, but I am not his fan. I have had two rather disturbing encounters with him. The first I would overlook because at the time, I thought he spoke out of plain honesty. But there was a second encounter that I have never been able to get out of my mind. Sometime in 2013, I had taken permission from President Goodluck Jonathan to stay back in London for a few days to sort out some personal matters. The request was granted. The Presidential delegation returned to Abuja without me. A few days later on my way back home, aboard British Airways, guess who I ran into as I tried to settle down: Nasir el-Rufai. I was so excited to see him. He had just then published his impressive memoir: The Accidental Public Servant (Safari Books, 2013, 627pp.) I rushed to meet him and enthusiastically told him that I had read his book and that I was impressed. I congratulated him. He was busy putting his hand luggage in the overhead compartment. As soon as he was done with that, he turned towards me and bellowed:
“Abati, you are calling us yesterday’s men eh? Very soon, you too will be a yesterday man. When we become today’s people, we will show you what it means to be a yesterday man!”.
He didn’t respond to my compliments about his book. The scowl on his face was enough to frighten a lion. I was so confounded, I simply walked back to my seat. I kept to my lane throughout the trip. I was Nigeria’s Presidential spokesman at the time. Indeed, I had written a piece titled “The Hypocrisy of Yesterday’s Men” (February 3, 2013). I wrote in defence of my boss: “A loosely bound group of yesterday’s men and women seems to be on the offensive against the Jonathan administration. They pick issues with virtually every effort of the administration, pretending to do so in the public interest; positing that they alone, know it all. Arrogantly, they claim to be better and smarter than everyone else in the current government. They are ever so censorious, contrarian and supercilious. They have no original claim to their pretensions other than that they were privileged to have been in the corridors of power once upon a time in their lives. They obviously got so engrossed with their own sense of importance they began to imagine themselves indispensable to Nigeria. It is dangerous to have such a navel-gazing, narcissistic group inflict themselves with so much ferocity on an otherwise impressionable public. We are in reality dealing with a bunch of hypocrites.”
I went further: “With exceptions so few, they really don’t care about Nigeria as a sovereign but the political spoils that accrue from it. And so they will stop at nothing to discredit those they think are not as deserving as they imagine themselves to be. President Jonathan has unfairly become the target of their pitiable frustrations. They mask self-interest motives as public causes and manipulate the public’s desire for improvements in their daily struggles as opportunity for power grab…” I didn’t mention anyone directly. But I recall Femi Fani-Kayode, my friend, brother and associate, long before the Jonathan years, was the only other person who attacked me around the period. I had made another comment and Fani-Kayode promptly retorted that Reuben Abati could only have said whatever he said because he was the product of a same-sex marriage.
The same Femi Fani-Kayode would later realize his own hypocrisy. He eventually abandoned the company of hypocrites and aligned with the Jonathan government. He in fact led Presidential Jonathan’s second-term campaign as strategist and campaign spokesperson. Nasir el-Rufai was one of those who never took the Road to Damascus. In my 2013 essay, I did not mention his name. I gave examples including that of some Quantity Surveyors who needed to return to their professions and desist from turning Nigeria, after a spell in public office, into a meal ticket. Nasir el-Rufai is a Quantity Surveyor. He obviously assumed that the innuendo was directed at him. He took it personal. But on the spur of the moment, I couldn’t think up a justification for his attitude towards me. His arrogance. His malicious conduct. I have a big ego myself. But Nasir el-Rufai’s ego is taller than the tallest building in the world. He has had a brilliant public career, and he is one of our brightest, but his public persona is that he is completely undiplomatic. There is nobody he cannot abuse. There is no harsh phrase that he cannot utter. His critics insist that he respects nobody, fears nobody, and yet everyone wonders what feeds his ego. What is it based on? In his days as Minister of the Federal Territory, he demolished people’s houses at will. He fought the National Assembly. I will rate him as the best Minster of the FCT so far though, even if he went about his job in a very tactless manner.
As Governor of Kaduna State, he has also shown the same lack of tact and diplomacy. We are dealing with hubris it seems. In his public career since President Olusegun Obasanjo discovered him in 1999 and brought him aboard Nigeria’s big stage, Nasir el-Rufai has consistently acquired a public persona as an intolerant public servant, and a perpetual accident. In Kaduna state which he presides over, anybody that criticizes him in any way, is most likely to be slammed with a legal suit and detained. He has fought Shiites. He has abused the leaders of Southern Kaduna. He is said to be above the courts of the land because he does not respect their orders. One Bishop had the temerity to prophesy that he, El-Rufai will never be President of Nigeria, the Bishop is now in court to respond to charges of criminal defamation for daring to prophesy that the Almighty Nasir El-Rufai will never be “President of Nigeria”.
This piece is titled “NBA vs Nasir el-Rufai”. My simple point in that regard which is the main thrust of this piece is that Nasir el-Rufai is in part, the victim of his own hubris. He has lessons to learn from his current travails and I hope that he will soon be on the Road to Damascus. But at the same time, I think the joke is on the NBA, not el-Rufai. Paul Usoro, the outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association has handled the el-Rufai matter in a most embarrassing, cowardly and disgraceful manner. Nasir el-Rufai was invited by the Technical Conference Planning Committee (TCCP) of the NBA as a keynote Speaker at the Annual General Conference of the NBA 2020. The theme is “STEPPING FORWARD” and the question is: “Who is a Nigerian? A Debate on National Identity” (26 -29 August 2020) with a special session focusing on the topic: “Am I a Nigerian – A Debate on National Identity, The Indigeneship-Citizenship Conundrum”. It is a virtual conference, the first in the history of the NBA, in other words, a COVID-19 determined and compliant conference of the NBA, and the 60th Annual General Conference of the body.
When the Technical Committee for Conference Planning (TCCP) of the NBA decided to invite Nasir el-Rufai as a keynote speaker at this particular session, they must have thought of the fact that more than any other Governor in Nigeria at the moment, he is one Governor who has had to deal with the issue of identity crisis, especially in the Southern part of the state that he governs. Besides, he has the intellectual heft, the analytic skills and the knowledge of the national question being addressed. His ability in these regards is beyond question and he has the confidence to articulate his views in any forum locally and internationally. The Presidential Conference Planning Committee could not have made a better choice. You may not like el-Rufai’s attitude and his lack of tact, but you cannot question his ability as a diligent and first-rate intellect. By uninviting him to the 60th NBA 60thGeneral Conference, the NBA submitted itself to the will of an aggressive and vocal minority in a manner that could affect the future of the NBA negatively. Most of the people who signed the petition against Nasir el-Rufai come across like persons who nurse personal grudges against him and who failed to look at the big picture. The NBA as A.U. Mustapha, SAN has argued convincingly, should not be politicized. It must not be personalized. It must not be used to settle political, ethnic or personal scores. The decision to uninvite Nasir el-Rufai to this year’s NBA conference which commences tomorrow is a major low in the history of the NBA. Targeting one man out of a long list of other persons who have been identified by the Radical Agenda Movement led by Ogunlana Esq. as not necessarily saintly amounts to partiality and institutional malice.
Paul Usoro, the outgoing NBA President has also not handled the matter with wisdom. He has presided over the NBA in one of its lowest moments in the last 60 years. The decision to open up the NBA Annual Conference to non-lawyers and stakeholder communities is one of the major achievements of the last few years, but in a last moment act of indiscretion, Usoro’s NBA has blown that up. The scapegoating of el-Rufai by a group that has had more despicable persons on its list of invitees over the years is an indication of unfairness, injustice and malice by the same persons who claim to defend the rule of law. The NBA should be an open forum for all ideas to contend and for all persons to enjoy the benefit of fair hearing. With the NBA vs el-Rufai saga, may be the NBA is better off in the future inviting only persons who will tell members what they would like to hear. Even worse and this should be condemned, is the spineless, cheap and pathetic letters of apology written to the Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by Paul Usoro, the NBA President. These were self-serving letters in which Usoro tried to disown the NBA NEC. What kind of cowardly conduct is that? His silly apologies have brought the Usoro Presidency to an ugly end. Coming shortly after he presided over a most controversial NBA Presidential election and a lackluster tenure, Usoro by August 27 will be handing over a divided and troubled NBA. Nasir el-Rufai is not the problem of the NBA. The NBA, turned into a rent-seeking vehicle, is its own problem, and it is sad to see a once dynamic and progressive NBA, reduced to a beggarly body. Was it not under Usoro’s watch that a Chief Justice was disgraced out of office and judges were humiliated? The association faces a leadership crisis that it must resolve and address, especially now that there is a simmering battle between the inner and outer Bar for its soul.
It is not too late to reverse the dis-invitation of Nasir el-Rufai to the 60th NBA AGC. But he can take sufficient solace in the fact that he is not the problem. His travail with the NBA is only an indication of a problem within the NBA itself. Olumide Akpata’s emergence as NBA President is seen as the triumph of the young Turks within the NBA, that is the Outer Bar. Nasir el-Rufai is just a convenient pawn in an existing conflict. We should, therefore, look farther into the future. Olumide Akpata who by next week would have assumed office, has his job cut out for him. He has to unite a divided House. He must also restore confidence in the Bar. He will either take charge or cede control to a vocal, aluta continua group within the NBA that has shown its hands rather early with the objection to Nasir el-Rufai. The radical elements within the NBA must focus on larger issues beyond the politics of malice and personality. The NBA is in urgent need of reform.
Herbert Wigwe and Access Bank
I got a call about a week ago informing me that it was the birthday of Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Bank and it would be nice to drink up on his behalf, thank the Almighty and shame the Devil as it were. Since the easing of the lockdown, boys have been looking for every opportunity to return to the old normal. I declined. I resist temptations to defy COVID-19; for, even more careful persons have fallen victim.
In normal times, I would have jumped at an opportunity to celebrate Herbert Wigwe who is certainly one of the biggest revelations in Nigeria’s banking industry in this century. When he took over the leadership of Access Bank, the Bank was no. 5. Today, that bank is No. 1 in terms of share capital, loans, deposits, reach and customer satisfaction. In April 2019, under Wigwe’s watch, Access Bank merged with Diamond Bank and became the largest bank in Africa. Wigwe has shown a capacity to control and transform every storm that comes the way of the bank. There is no doubt that he is leading Access bank in the right direction. He and his brother, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, both co-founders of Access Bank, remind me of Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun who both built GT Bank into a global brand.
At a time when Nigeria’s reputation is being rubbished by the likes of Hushpuppy and Woodberry and the 419 gang, Herbert Wigwe and his team give Nigeria great hopes. He is a role model for the younger generation. Today, Access Bank is not just a Tier-I Bank, it has branches across Africa which provide jobs for millions across the continent. And yet Wigwe is just 54. He is in addition, Chairman of Nigeria’s Bankers’ Committee. A high-achieving brother like him truly deserves a drink and a salute. The organisers should please invite me next year when, hopefully, our lives would have become normal again. In the meantime, many happy returns Herbert. May your days be long.
As a journalist, I am simply outraged; first to read the views of my chairman, Emmanuel Ogbeche and later to see the clip of my dear sister, Ruona J. Meyer on events in Calabar. It’s still early in Ottawa and I need to take it easy today so that I don’t transfer my aggression on others (including members of my own family). But I am totally miffed!
I mean, this is an assault on journalism. Journalism is a noble profession. A profession that have rules. A profession that is practiced by the best of the world – yes (subtract me). Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister is a journalist! The founding fathers of Nigeria – Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe were journalists!
I am disturbed and totally angry that a rabble rouser, a lickspittle, an abysmally corrupt, inept and uncouth Femi Fani-Kayode would insult a journalist the way he just did and get away with it. I am totally angry that this idiot of no compare would exhibit his madness on a halpless journalist who was only holding him accountable to the ideals he wants to be credited with, but which he lacks both in character and comportment.
But above all, I am totally disturbed, that colleagues who were present did not see this as assault on their profession, on their own integrity and on their noble profession – they were nodding heads and apologizing like agama lizards that they all are.
I am disturbed that a tv station even uploaded it with a caption that FFK reacts to a rude journalist! I am shocked that this is happening in 2020. I mean, Donald Trump has done worse to journalists, but he has also received worse. No journalist worth his calling and training should be insulted like that by a fraud! FFK is a fraud! I say so!
I think the NUJ should not let this lie low. If it does, it would have created a precedent and who knows what happens next. Maybe he would assault a journalist because he is a lawyer…there are lawyers in our profession too. Chuks Ohuegbe is a lawyer, Shareef Mohammed is a lawyer, Mohammed Adamu is a lawyer and there are many more. Sir Richard Akinola II is a respectable lawyer with a veritable source of income and a mileage of philanthropy that Fani Kayode would never reach in seven lifetimes, he is a journalist. Need I mention more?
Fani Kayode has no known job. He has never been known to have won a single case anywhere in life. His record of mental health issues is well known. Here is a man who has no decency or decorum. Here is a man who attacks everything that moves. Here is a man who kisses and tells…that is the lowest of the low. Here is a man who is hiding under judicial privileges to escape justice for corruption. Which of the journalists he denigrates carries this plethora or evil resume? None!
Yes, maybe people collect brown envelopes. But if there are no givers, there would be no takers? What are those giving brown envelopes trying to hide? That is also an issue, not that I support inducing journalists.
I am interested in what happened after this press conference. I’ll be monitoring how his threat to report the journalist to Daily Trust would be resolved. I am waiting for the official reaction of the Daily Trust Management to this assault on their reporter. A news organization is as good as how it allows idiots treat its reporters.
Fani Kayode must be told in no unclear terms that he has no integrity to protect. He should go and clear his case before the courts with evidence. If he was picked up and detained, it would not have been for telling truth to power – it would have been for hate speech that he spews out daily; and it must have been for his shameful record in public office. FFK has no integrity to protect. We are all witnesses to his record in service, his dodgy lifestyle.
No journalist should endure insult from anyone. If you ask a question, you want answers. If people are not ready to give answers, they are free to walk away, but assault and insults do NOT come with the profession. No colleague must stand by and watch his comrade denigrated the way FFK has done to the Daily Trust reporter.
NUJ must investigate this. What happened before the question? What happened after the press conference and if people are known to (as would probably be) have egged on this demented idiot in his tirade just because of the brown envelope that comes after the deal, then, something must be done.
We must save journalism from charlatans and from political jobbers who want to hide under one finger. This assault on my profession by people of doubtful character MUST STOP.
The United Nation (UN) has suggested dialogue as part of the measures aimed at ending the protracted Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast of Nigeria.
The UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, who made the suggestion when he answered reporters’ questions after an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja today, August 24, stressed that the typologies of the different insecurity challenges in the country make them difficult to resolve.
He said that government needed to complement the use of military force with a robust dialogue mechanism in crises areas.
Edward highlighted the need for dialogue in addition to a political process to complement the military efforts in the new national security strategy, assuring that UN will tap into its deep reservoir of expertise, both in human and material resources to put at the disposal of Nigeria.
“We have multi-faceted security problems with each problem requiring a unique set of innovative solutions from identity-based conflict to resource-based conflict and power-based conflict. One size will not fit all.
“From our global experience, there are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems. The only solution to the conflict in northeast Nigeria is peace and we must prioritize prevention, development where feasible and humanitarian assistance when needed to find lasting and durable solutions.
“The affected people especially the 1.2 million IDPs and over 293,000 refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon must be supported in every way possible to improve IDP sites and shelter, basic
services, protection and decongestion and dignified voluntary return to places they will have access to basic services and security.
“There is an urgent need to look at the issue of outstanding Tripartite Agreements with the Nigerian-Refugee Hosting countries and develop a National Framework to guide action on IDPs at state level in line with protocols agreed at the Kampala Convention.”
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The Bankers’ Committee has unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in Nigeria, to enable them adequately address the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the refocussing of his government development strategy on nine areas, apart from the determination to improve access to quality education, health care and enhance productivity.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has condemned what it called “the gangstar-like outburst by Chief Femi Fani Kayode against the Cross River State Correspondent of the Daily Trust Newspaper, Eyo Charles who asked him a simple question which he felt was embarrassing.
When Fani-Kayode, Mr. Short Fuse, Emited Smokes In Calabar, By Fredrick Nwabufo
I watched the video where Fani-Kayode gave a dressing-down to a journalist who asked him an innocuous question which “the Almighty” found irritating and pesky, “Who is bankrolling your tour?” That was it! Femi emptied the content of his pugnacious buccal cavity on the journalist. He called him stupid and expended minutes chopping the reporter to insignificant bits.
Femi said he had a ‘’short fuse’’ and asked the reporter to size him up because – ‘’…I am a former minister, lawyer…. Who do you think you are talking to?’’
Femi’s diatribe: “Do you know who you are talking to? What type of insulting question is that? Which bankroll, to do what? Who can give me money for anything? Who do you think you are talking to? Go and report yourself to your publisher. I could see from your face before you got here, how stupid you are. Don’t ever talk to me like that. Who do you think you’re talking to? Bankroll who? You think I am one of those ones you… from who, when, how? You have a small mind, very small mind.”
“Who is bankrolling your tour?’’ The non-toxic question that bled Femi’s poison. Femi is not a disguisable character for integrity. He is notorious in political circles as a mercenary who can serve anyone and any purpose as long as his belly gets filled. His former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he turned against after Goodluck Jonathan picked him up to wait at the table, put a stamp of affirmation on Femi’s devious constitution.
Obasanjo once said: “Femi is my boy. If you give him food, he will sing for you?’’
Femi was vicious on former president Jonathan – not until he was appointed to be the spokesman of the re-election campaign of the former president. But he spoke Jonathan to defeat in 2015.
Recently, Femi embarked on a PR tour of PDP states. He travelled to Zamfara where the governor treated him to the niceties of princes. The former minister who is a known adversary of the north – as his writings and public statements show – geared into duplicity afterwards untamed by his pursuit of pleasures.
He once put the trouble with Nigeria on the pouch of the Igbo. In his article of August 2013, ‘’The bitter truth about the Igbo’’, Femi wrote of his intimate congress with the wife of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu — an extraneous piece of information that he divulged to spite the Igbo.
He did not camouflage his bigotry and hate for the Igbo. But he started cantillating different when the Buhari administration came to power. He needed alliances from the south-east to confront the ‘’northern government’’ which pulled him to court on allegations of corruption. He became an abetting voice, albeit hypocritical, against the perceived grievances of the region. Not that he really cared about Ndi Igbo, but in President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi and a few Igbo politicians displaced from the dining table, found a common enemy.
Femi lives only for himself. He is vacant of character and principles. He stands for nothing and falls for everything as long as he gets fed. It is in this context that the question (who is bankrolling your tour?) of the journalist to Femi, should be situated. Why was he so incensed by the question? He could have simply torpedoed whatever the insinuations on the tour are with an intelligent and polite answer. Perhaps, he felt he was being ratted out? His outburst busts his pretensions.
Femi is critical of anyone who does not favour him, and his approach to opposition is both savage and irrational. He once called Buhari “an evil tyrant”. But it is clear; the politician would have been a more ruthless tyrant if was sitting on the throne. He pleasures himself insulting other people, but he brooks no opposition. He can throw blows, but cannot take them. That is the making of an aboriginal tyrant.
However, Nigerian journalists must redeem themselves from the curse of “brown envelopes”. Journalism is a noble profession, deserving of respect. Some journalists act like peasants before politicians for crumbs. So, naturally, they cannot stand up to them. But what is journalism when journalists are afraid of asking critical questions? We have to redeem ourselves. The profession is fast losing dignity and appeal.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist
Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo