Opinion

OPINION: Refining Without Relief: Nigeria In The Midst Of Global Oil Wars!

Published

4 hours ago

March 25, 2026

OPINION: Refining Without Relief: Nigeria In The Midst Of Global Oil Wars!

The vision was bold. The expectation was clear. And the promise was powerful. When the Dangote Refinery began operations, it was hailed as Nigeria’s long-awaited escape from decades of energy contradiction, which involves exporting crude oil while importing refined fuel at high costs. It was meant to guarantee supply, stabilise prices, conserve foreign exchange, and most importantly, deliver relief to ordinary Nigerians.

What appears to be a distinct contradiction is that, despite months into its operation, a different reality is emerging, with fuel prices rising sharply. Inflationary pressures are intensifying. This occurrence has forced Nigerians to ask a difficult question once again, one that calls for an urgent answer.: Why does a country that produces and refines crude oil still suffer the consequences of global oil shocks?

Looking at the trend, it is clear that the answer lies not just in geopolitics, but in the deeper structure of Nigeria’s oil economy, where global pricing, policy gaps, and now the looming risk of monopoly intersect.

With the recent development, the latest alarming surge in petrol prices has been driven largely by escalating tensions in the Middle East. This is particularly the U.S-Israel strikes on Iran and retaliatory measures from Tehran. A well-known fact is that at the centre of the crisis is the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil transit route through which a significant portion of global supply flows. Any disruption, even a speculative one, triggers immediate spikes in crude prices.

Within a week, oil prices jumped from the mid-$60 range to nearly $120 per barrel. For global markets, this is expected. For Nigeria, it is devastatingly ironic. This is because, despite having crude oil in abundance and despite refining it locally, Nigeria remains fully exposed and this has continued to re-echo the same ironic question.

In a rare moment of corporate candor, the refinery’s leadership acknowledged this reality. The plant is deeply affected by global shocks. Crude oil, even when sourced locally, is priced at international benchmarks. Shipping costs have surged dramatically, from about $800,000 per tanker to as high as $3.5m. Insurance premiums have climbed, and logistics have become significantly more expensive, with total costs further driving higher.

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Even more revealing is the refinery’s sourcing structure. Only about 30 per cent – 35 per cent of crude comes from the Nigerian government supply under the crude-for-naira framework. A significant portion is still purchased in U.S. dollars on the open market, while another 30 per cent – 40 per cent is sourced internationally, including from the United States and other regions. This means the refinery is not insulated; it is integrated into the global oil system. The implication is unavoidable as local refining has not translated into local pricing control.

The impact on Nigerians has been immediate and severe as petrol prices have surged from under N800 earlier in the year to over N1,200, and in some regions, it is even more alarming when the prices skyrocketed close to N1,400 per litre. Within weeks, multiple price increases have been recorded, driven largely by global crude price spikes and rising logistics costs. Doubtless, the country has witnessed the consequences ripple across the economy as transport fares rise, food prices increase, businesses struggle with higher operating costs, and inflation accelerates.

The development has attracted the attention of the labour unions and the organised private sector, prompting them to raise concerns and alarm about the consequences of job losses, business closures, and worsening hardship if the trend continues with each passing day, witnessing a daily increase and causing possible artificial scarcity.

Nigeria remains trapped in a painful contradiction. It produces crude oil. It refines crude oil. Yet it cannot protect its citizens from global oil volatility. As Aliko Dangote himself acknowledged, Nigeria has no direct role in the conflict driving these price increases, yet it bears the consequences due to global economic interdependence.

In a real sense, this is the deeper tragedy, as Nigeria has achieved capacity without control.

At the heart of the issue is a structural reality, crude oil is priced globally, not locally. Even under the crude-for-naira arrangement, pricing is benchmarked against international rates. This means refineries pay global crude prices, fuel prices reflect global market conditions, and domestic consumers absorb international shocks. In essence, Nigeria has moved refining home without bringing pricing sovereignty with it.

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To be fair, the Dangote Refinery has played a stabilising role. Nigeria still enjoys relatively lower petrol prices compared to many global markets. In several countries, supply disruptions have led to panic buying and rationing, while Nigeria has maintained a consistent supply. As the refinery’s CEO aptly noted, what is worse than $120 oil is no oil. The refinery has prevented scarcity, but it has not prevented high prices. Availability, in this case, has not equated to affordability, which is the painful part for the citizens.

While much of the current debate focuses on pricing, another critical issue is quietly taking shape, which is the risk of market concentration. Dangote Refinery deserves credit for its scale and ambition, but scale brings power, and power demands oversight. If fuel importers are gradually pushed out and no competing refineries emerge at scale, Nigeria could find itself transitioning from a public sector monopoly to a private sector dominance led by a single player.

Nigeria has seen this pattern before. In the cement industry, increased domestic production did not necessarily translate into lower prices. Limited competition allowed prices to remain elevated despite local capacity. The same risk now looms in the downstream oil sector. Without competition, price-setting power becomes concentrated, supply risks increase, and consumer protection weakens. In a country with fragile regulatory institutions, this is not a theoretical concern; it is a real and present danger.

No one should perceive this wrongly, because it is important, however, not to misplace blame. It should be made known that the Dangote Refinery is not a charity; it is a private enterprise operating within market realities. It must recover its investment, manage costs, and deliver returns. Its exposure to global pricing is not a failure of intent but a function of the system within which it operates.

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The real issue lies in the structure of the market and the absence of sufficient competition.

It is no longer news that Nigeria’s downstream sector is now largely deregulated following the removal of fuel subsidies. While deregulation has reduced government fiscal burden and encouraged private investment, it has also exposed consumers to price volatility and limited the scope for intervention, as this has continued to cause pain. Markets, in theory, deliver efficiency, but in practice, they require competition and effective regulation to function properly. Without these, deregulation can simply replace one form of inefficiency with another.

Nigeria does not need to weaken Dangote Refinery; it needs to multiply it. The goal should be to build a competitive refining ecosystem to replace one dominant structure with another. The truth is not far from this, as part of a lasting solution, it requires encouraging new refinery investments, removing bottlenecks for players such as BUA and modular refineries, ensuring transparent crude allocation, providing open access to pipelines and storage infrastructure, and enforcing strong antitrust regulations.

Competition remains the most effective regulator of price, which is sacrosanct and it protects consumers, strengthens supply security, and reduces systemic risk.

This must also be perceived beyond competition, which calls for the government to act strategically. The fact is that when supplying crude to local refineries at discounted or stabilised rates, expanding naira-based transactions, and introducing temporary relief measures during global crises are all viable options that must be put into consideration. Energy is too critical to be left entirely to market forces, especially in a developing economy where millions are highly vulnerable to economic shocks.

It is time that Nigerians understood that the nation’s refining crisis has been decades in the making, and it cannot be solved by a single refinery, no matter how large. If asked, it will be said that this is a fact that can’t be argued. The Dangote Refinery is undoubtedly a turning point, but it will only remain so if it is embedded within broader systemic reform. Otherwise, Nigeria risks replacing one form of dependency with another, from import dependence to domestic concentration.

The question is no longer whether Nigeria can refine crude oil. It can. The real question is whether Nigeria can build a system that ensures fair pricing, competitive markets, consumer protection, and economic resilience, as these are exactly the core answers.

If global conflicts continue to dictate local fuel prices, if monopoly risks go unchecked, and if citizens remain vulnerable despite abundant resources, then the promise of local refining will remain unfulfilled, as it will bring no expected relief.

What is playing out is the well-known fact that in refining, as in democracy, concentration of power is dangerous. And in both, the strongest safeguard remains the same, competition, transparency, and institutions that serve the public interest.

OPINION: Refining Without Relief: Nigeria In The Midst Of Global Oil Wars!

—Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: blaise.udunze@gmail.com

Opinion

Telecoms: Obasanjo will never see lack, by Okoh Aihe

Published

6 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Trends Admin

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Telecoms: Obasanjo will never see lack, by Okoh Aihe

It was not a moment of reminiscences or retrospection. Not even a recall. Just a normal telephone call. Two women were chatting away, with the one sitting not far away from me not really mindful whether anybody heard or not. It was her business; not another man’s business.

But you know, people can really make calls, shouting into the phone as if they are addressing a community. It is our way, speak at the top of our voices and put up a rodomontade performance as a deflection of the pain and weakness we feel inside or some kind of mask against the exhausting circumstances circumscribing our lives.

This very day, this woman seems to be on a cruise discussing life with her friend. Not about the war in Iran or the price of petrol or the concomitant spiral of the price of stable food, but just about life. Are you hearing from the children, the other voice seems to be asking?

Then, the answer. Ah, Obasanjo. He will never see lack in his life. He has made life easy for us and we can communicate with anybody anywhere in the world.

My curiosity flared. Olusegun Obasanjo was President of Nigeria from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. Eight straight years without interregnum. He was military head of state from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979. How could that kind of person be associated with any lack? Does he need any prayers to avert that?

My understanding returned home. As civilian President, Obasanjo met a country in trouble in all ramifications. He went in search of the low-hanging fruits in order to reflate an economy that was in paralysis. He initiated some policies to deliver some sectors of the economy from the strong men and principalities that held them hostage.

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The telecommunications sector was a beneficiary. The new policy thrust freed the sector from the satanic hold of NITEL, the government monopoly which, for decades, held the sector hostage. A new Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, was born and it built up enough gravitas to take audacious and even clinical decisions in the industry. The Commission did a GSM auction without fear and latent patronage and got results that reverberated across the globe.

For the first time in the troubled history of our nation, phone ownership was democratised, making it possible for everybody to have a phone irrespective of status and placement in the society, to the consternation and shame of those who had preached the message that only the rich could use a phone. Obasanjo, by his actions and unwavering commitment to purpose, virtually put phones in the hands of everybody. Even for those who hate him with passion, they cannot deny him of that achievement or the prayers accruable.

Like that woman, I could just imagine how many people pray for OBJ, the lovely acronym that defines his defiance and stubbornness when taking critical decisions. He offers no apologies to those hurt as long as results are achieved. He wasn’t emotional about the fate of NITEL and that freed the entire industry, opened it up for a tipping point.

OBJ is long gone out of the scene, prompting the question: what is happening in the telecommunications industry now? What has happened ever since?

The answers are buried in the reality of our experience which speaks very little positive about the industry. Here is a proof of that reality. The 5G technology was designed as a major break in the sector, something to evoke the kind of memories that were associated with the coming of GSM technology. But that expectation has hardly happened. The three licensees, MTN, MAFAB and Airtel have scarcely cracked the demand with their service offering, thus leaving potential subscribers and even the operators in frustration.

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Recent data from the regulator disclosed a troubling disconnect between 5G expectations and the reality on ground. For instance, while more people are acquiring 5G-capable devices in Abuja and Lagos, data analysis revealed some yawning coverage gaps in the two cities: 70.9 percent in Lagos and 65.6 percent in Abuja. The reality is that as 5G gains ascendancy in other parts of the world, becoming the technology of preferred data connection, the story is totally different here, where the operators are even unable to expand services in major cities.

NCC data reveals that older technologies like 2G and 4G remain dominant, while 5G maintains the ignoble rear. While by January this year, 2G controls 36.97 percent of the GSM network, 4G contributes a whopping 53.41 percent while 3G and 5G contribute 5.67 and 3.94 percent respectively. At this rate, it will take a couple of decades for 5G technology to reach the nooks and crannies of the country, if it ever will. And this can’t be the desired outcome projected at the beginning.

‘’About 50 percent of Nigerians with 5G devices don’t have access to 5G services,’’ said Edoyemi Ogoh, who is Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC. ‘’This means there is no 5G service in the areas where they want to basically utilize it. So, there is still a gap in the 5G coverage,’’ he added.

There are more troubling signs from the NCC dashboard. While mobile subscription stands at 182,225,258 by January, a breakdown reveals that MTN and Airtel enjoy a lion share; 94,246,220 for MTN, while Airtel has 62,041,872. Globacom and T2, formerly 9mobile, contribute the remaining figures of 22,459,539 and 3,256,084, respectively.

The above picture tells me that competition is not as intense in the industry as it should be and that except something was done urgently more operators might just disappear from NCC dashboard just as NTEL seems to have done irredeemably. T2 is barely surviving and there has to be a way to prevent them from atrophying to death and putting a blight on a market that was once the envy and the toast of the global community.

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But there is an externality which damns every humble effort by the operators to manage their networks. The power situation has been a nightmare. I am not talking about the complete breakdown of the power grid, which has been regular, I mean the near absence of power supply to the last mile service providers (are they the Discos?) who have put nearly the entire population in the dark.

Then the war came! Two powerful nations are bombing Iran out, and Iran has taken its anger to the rest of the world. A litre of petrol is over N1,300 while diesel is N1,506.25. What will the operators do now to manage diesel supply to thousands of generators at base stations across the nation? Will they be allowed to declare force majeure, and simply move on? What will the NCC do about the falling quality of service traceable to such intrusive external pressure?

I have no answer to the above questions. But what I do know is that the NCC has been doing a lot of documentations to mend what seems to be the broken-down walls of the industry, like trying to raise the Titanic. Going into a relationship with Ookla which, according to EVC Aminu Maida, enables the NCC ‘’to provide independent insights into real-world network performance and the lived experience of Nigerians across cities, rural communities, highways, and emerging 5G zones.”

The regulator is therefore able to track progress, identify gaps, and guide targeted regulatory interventions – ranging from spectrum optimisation and infrastructure upgrades to quality-of-service enforcement and the expansion of rural connectivity. Just like taking soft measures to deal with intractable issues.

But there is something about the Nigerian market that remains stubbornly attractive. Apart from MTN nearly achieving monopoly status in Nigeria by subscriber figures, the operator in its last annual report hailed the country, Ghana and Uganda for helping it achieve strong financial results in 2025.

The Nigerian market contributed a princely $1.8bn which equated to 103.4 percent rise from the previous year.

Unfortunately, there are too many challenges facing the industry, from internal issues by the Commission which is struggling to stabilise the workforce and build up operational funds, to other external issues impacting the operators.

However, I look forward to one positive move, quite ground-shaking that will one day elicit some prayers from that grateful subscriber who will say a prayer for the leaders of today.

Telecoms: Obasanjo will never see lack, by Okoh Aihe

Opinion

Kurds: The Sepia Pawn on the Chessboard

Published

3 days ago

March 22, 2026

Trends Admin

Kurds: The Sepia Pawn on the Chessboard

Years ago, a dashing and genteel young man called Casanova de Seingalt met a ravishing young lady called Kudi. The young man met Kudi during turbulence, when alliances were a scarce commodity and one needed a paisano to overcome the hellscape. Throughout the blizzard, Kudi stood firm like a totem pole. Knowing full well that one good turn deserves another, the loving young man promised to walk down the aisle with Kudi as compensation for loyalty.

Sadly, the promise made 106 years ago was never kept, even as the unfulfilled promises, heartbreak, and trauma continue to pervade our world.

The fiction above aptly describes the Kurds and the statehood promised by the superpowers on August 10, 1920, under the Treaty of Sèvres, following the dissolution of the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the Kurds became a stateless nation — a term that refers to ethnic or cultural groups that share a common identity, history, language, or territory but lack their own independent sovereign state.

If stateless nations were to be grouped into pots like FIFA does before a major competition, the Basques, Catalans, Tamils, and Uyghurs would all be in the same pot as the Kurds. While the first three nations are sliced between two countries, the Uyghurs — with a presence in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan — are like the Kurds: among the largest stateless nations, with 30–40 million people shoehorned into four different countries: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran, with varying degrees of assimilation and autonomy.

What also makes the Kurdish question a Gordian knot is the fact that they remain the only nation promised a state by the superpowers and overwhelmingly denied.

The ultimate denial has resulted in 18–20 million Kurds in Turkey, 8–10 million in Iran, 5–6 million in Iraq, and 2–3 million in Syria seeking autonomy, recognition, and the preservation of Kurdish culture and education. Kurds abhor oppression and play on the fringe of the political order in their respective countries. The rugged nature of Kurdish topography is not merely a lesson for geography classes in the Middle East; it is also a reflection of a ballsy national character in the face of intimidation by their traducers.

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This culminated in the emergence of the Republic of Mahabad in 1946 and the hanging of Qazi Muhammad — the arrowhead of the Kurdish cause — in Charchra Square, where the petals of nationhood briefly unfurled but withered before reaching their majestic grandeur.

From Turkey (Bakur), Iraq (Bashur), Iran (Rojhelat), and Syria (Rojava), the trajectory of the Kurds has been marked by revolts and insurgencies against the forces of oppression and intimidation. Despite the inveterate heartbreak, the heart of the Kurds is filled with love and their mind with the spirit of camaraderie.

Pushed to the wall in 2003 against Saddam Hussein — the mastermind and executioner of the Anfal Campaign (1986–1989) against the Kurds — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) fought alongside the United States, overthrowing Saddam and the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party, defending their historic capital, Kirkuk, and acquiring semi-autonomy.

Also, in 2014, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate,” giving Islamic State a very firm foothold in Iraq, the Kurds in Syria and Iraq — through the YPJ (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin), an all-female Kurdish military force based in Rojava, northern Syria, and the Peshmerga (“those who face death”), the official military forces of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) — became allies in arms and went to the trenches with the United States to quench the raging fire of ISIS.

Isn’t it an irony that a jilted bride is fighting alongside the very nation that jilted her?

While the Kurds see this act as a fight for survival to bring about change, the superpowers see the Kurds as a pawn to clip the wings of their enemies.

In order to ensure reconciliation, stability, and growth, the Kurds are gradually being given the opportunity to sing from the same hymnal as their respective governments. While Turkey is doing so through broadcasting and education, Syria has recognised Kurdish alongside Arabic as a national language, repealed discriminatory policies, and begun a gradual integration of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) institutions into the state structure. For Iraq, the Kurds have long enjoyed a de facto semi-autonomy through the guardrail of the United States since 1991.

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The Kurdish story is a story of promises not kept, of cavalry called upon to fight, then denied the right to share the spoils. A political scientist sees geopolitics and intentional fragmentation of nations. A brand strategist, however, sees something different pervading the landscape. Their story mirrors the super brand that dominates the market, a challenger brand that unsettles and challenges the status quo, and the flank brand, the habitual pawn in the hands of the super brand, moved anywhere on the chessboard to counter-effect.

The superpowers, like market leaders, don’t focus solely on their area of comparative advantage alone; doing so makes them one-dimensional thinkers. To continue to be relevant in world polity, they have to be three-dimensional thinkers; they think about deepening the market, to negate competition of regional powers (challenger brands), and how to raise the flank brands — the pawn — to knock the sail of the wind of the regional powers (challenger brands) that are usually disruptors. In Nigeria, MultiChoice’s DStv was the market leader in the pay-TV network. The coming of StarTimes disrupted that market segment until DStv responded with a flank brand, GOtv, their pawn to fighting the challenger brand frontally. Also in Kenya, when locally brewed alcohol challenged the dominance of Tusker, East African Breweries Limited responded, introducing their pawn, Senator Keg, to change the market colouration.

As it is, the current face-off between the United States, Israel, and Iran is fixated on the superpower, regional power, and pawn vignette. Already, the United States is seeking a bromance with the Kurds. Reports are everywhere of Donald Trump inviting Iranian Kurdish leader Mustafa Hijri to the White House. In an interview with Fox News, Bafel Talabani of the PUK confirmed speaking with Donald Trump about the Iran war.

For Operation Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, the Kurds — who are the flank brand would be moved like a ballerina on the chessboard by the superpower (Super brand),to counter the challenger brand posture of Iran.But in the end the superpower won’t be a pencil to redraw the map; rather, they would only peck the pawn for a job well done, as oxidation has taken its toll on the chessboard.

Kurds: The Sepia Pawn on the Chessboard

Toluwalope Shodunke ,a Media Practitioner

Can be reached via tolushodunke@yahoo.com

Opinion

Trump: Winning the war, losing the world, by Dele Sobowale

Published

3 days ago

March 22, 2026

Trends Admin

Trump: Winning the war, losing the world, by Dele Sobowale

“Men make history, but, not just as they please” – Karl Marx, 1818-1883.

“Brute force without wisdom falls by its own weight” – Horace, 65-8 BC, VBQ p 63

Trump, Hitler and all terrorists, dead and alive, operate on one principle. “Let them hate, as long as they fear.” They want other people to tremble at the mere mention of their names. They are uniformly psychopathic and have no regard for human life – other peoples’ lives that is. The jealously protect their own.

Trump who must wake up every morning, look in the mirror, and ask, “Who is the most powerful and brilliant leader the world has ever known?”

And, who would have answered the question himself: “Me”, doesn’t understand why Iran is still standing and fighting.

Any attempt to educate him would amount to talking to Mount Everest. Come to think of it, Everest might be more reasonable than the President of America.

At least Everest has not made the 8 billion people on Earth miserable. Trump has managed to do just that. There is probably no community in the world, however remote or rural, which is not feeling the impact of Trump’s war. Instead of the global applause, usually bestowed on conquerors in the past, curses and maledictions are flying, like missiles, towards the United States of America.

Once fondly called ‘God’s Own Country’; today, nearly 8 million human beings are convinced that the devil is now in charge of America. It is difficult to dispute that. God provides for people, lightens their burdens; brings joy. Satan brings misery, deprivation, sorrow and death – including to young schoolgirls. The USA, which, until Trump, had stood for decency, against attacks on civilians even when war broke out, is now having the deliberate murder of children charged to its account. What is the difference between that and what Hitler did? Should the world, US included, now start reversing itself; apologise to Hitler in absentia and erect monuments to his military genius – now that Trump is borrowing from the Hitler playbook?

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THE REAL TRAGEDIES OF TRUMP’S WAR

“History does not repeat itself; man does” – Professor Barbara Tuchman.

President Trump is a shallow thinker. He obviously reads very little and understands even less. That is understandable. A leader who constantly allows his private fantasies to spill out into the public domain, and who takes every issue personally, seldom has time for deep reflections. He talks first; acts second and thinks third – if at all. That explains why he doesn’t seem to understand that the US and Iran are fighting different wars. Trump desperately wants to establish a legacy as a great American president. He has chosen fomenting global conflicts as his strategic thrust. That was why he started his second term by imposing high tariffs on virtually every country – including traditional allies. Today, even Canada and Western Europe are moving away from the US and, ironically, closer to China. Nobody could have predicted this shift a year ago.

Iran, in its own way, is not different from the US in many ways. It seeks to control the Islamic Middle East in its quest to spread its brand of Islam worldwide. But, unlike the US, which still clings to the fading illusion of being a democracy, it is a theocracy – a nation ruled by religious leaders. Elections are not held. Believing they derive their powers from Allah, their positions are inflexible. That is not the only difference between Ayatollah and Trump. While Trump, a bloody coward, who dodged being drafted to fight for America, is afraid to die, the late Ayatollah knew he would be killed. Most other leaders, like Assad of Syria, would have escaped to another country; the old man waited serenely for death. That is one important fact which Trump has failed to understand. Dying, while fighting for Allah, was the most desirable way to end a true Muslim’s life. He is not alone; millions of Muslims, globally, will do the same. America will have to kill most of the world’s Muslim to permanently end this war. It remains an axiom of life that the most difficult person to fight is one who is prepared to die; while you want to live. Millions of Americans will spend the rest of their lives fearing assassination.

Meanwhile, Trump’s war has already upended the life of everybody worldwide.

All available indicators point to galloping inflation at a time when purchasing power is declining in virtually every country. Airlines and cruise ships operators, particularly those in Middle East, are grounded and the multiplier effect reaches down to their food and other contractors; all the way to the farm gates.

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Fertiliser prices will soon climb as the Gulf area accounts for a significant percentage of supply. No President needs to be reminded that great political and economic uncertainties result in market volatility. Goods are hoarded; discretionary spending is suspended; merchants groan. Every country is now a “nation of shop keepers”. The rich also cry; capital markets are shedding value like trees in autumn. Nobody is immune; except the merchants of death – arms manufacturers. Trump works for them because he probably holds shares in all of them. The rest of us pay dearly for the folly of Americans; who handed the mightiest military power ever assembled to someone who needs to consult a shrink.

Irrespective of how the Iran war ends, the US, ‘land of the free and home of the brave’, will never again be trusted by the rest of the world. The world’s savior during the Second World War, WWII, has become a brutal rapist and murderer of schoolchildren in less than a century after receiving our unalloyed gratitude for saving the universe from another terrorist. Nigerian children and young adults, like others round the globe, will never forget who forced them to trek to school, without lunch money in March 2026. Pleasure is fleeting; pain runs deep and lasts longer.

Trump has made history for himself and America; but, not what he intended. Iran has won the moral war.

SHEIK ABUBAKAR GUMI EXPOSES GOVERNMENT LIES

“You cannot adopt politics as a profession and remain honest” – Louis M Howe, 1871-1936, VBQ p 192.

“The government knows every terrorist by name and by location. I don’t go alone to negotiate – I go with the Police and other security agencies” – Sheik Abubakar Gumi, March 10, 2026.

Politicians form political parties and run governments. Obviously, in every country and at all the sub-national governments, citizens are confronted with the choice of the dishonest people to elect to office. An honest politician is an oxymoron – a contradiction in terms. Until a top government official, at federal or state level, past and present defence chiefs (Army, Air Force, Navy), Inspectors General of Police, IGP, Director General of the Department of State Security, DSS, openly disclaim knowledge of and participation in Gumi’s negotiations with terrorists, Nigerians would have no choice but to believe that all our leaders have been lying to us – while engaging in a collective conspiracy of silence; at our expense. Trump must not know about this disclosure. It would alter his views about Nigerian leaders and their seriousness about ending terrorism and banditry. Prolonging the horrors might serve their personal interests.

“Every time you negotiate with a terrorist, you become an accomplice” -Unidentified Israeli Defence Official, VBQ p 244.

Unless Gumi was telling lies, several top government officials, especially the security officers, have been accomplices to terrorists. Tinubu, inadvertently, appointed one of them as Minister; and has stubbornly refused to remove him. One state is paying a frightful price for it. Obviously, nobody in authority cares. Celebrated terrorist was turbaned during the tenure of a former governor; who also confessed to carrying N900 million to the bush to negotiate with bandits. Does anybody seriously expect that man to fight terrorists? The consequences are predictable. “CO, soldiers, terrorists killed in Borno Military attack.” (VANGUARD, March 10, 2026.

Nigerian soldiers are paying with their lives for the deception and conspiracy of silence of leaders in corridors of power – including Abuja.

AMBASSADORS STRANDED AT AIRPORT

“India, others reject Tinubu’s envoys over tenure policy” – Report, March 11, 2026

“An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for his country” – Sir Henry Wolton, 1568-1639, VBQ p 9.

There were honest men in the seventeenth century to be sent abroad to lie for their countries. Not anymore. Today, with ambassadors being selected among politicians or closet party members, there are few honest men and women ambassadors. Instead, what we now have are mostly shameless liars and unprincipled individuals eager to spread falsehood wherever they went. It is like throwing pigs in dirty, muddy water. They love it. This is their natural environment. These days, I strain to hold my nose; each time someone is introduced as an ambassador. Almost nothing he says will be taken without several table spoons of salt. Verification, later, is inevitable.

But for observation of Lent, I would have gone to my favourite bar or watering hole and ordered beer/stout to be served round, when the news of India’s rejection of the ambassador-designate was reported. I have nothing against the fellow personally, but, I strongly believe that Nigerian ambassadors represent the worst form of throwing good money after bad imaginable. Tinubu was right to have withdrawn them; he was wrong to succumb to pressure and appoint so many dishonest people at once. I pray that more nations will follow India’s example and leave the ambassadors stranded at the airport.