Opinion

Okupe, Obi: A paradigm shift in reputation and integrity

Published

3 years ago

December 22, 2022

“My dear, dear Lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation; that away
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay…
My honour is my life; both grow in one;
Take honour from me, and my life is done.”

This was William Shakespeare in King Richard 11, published in 1596. That is exactly 426 years today. Now, read those words again and try to situate and relate with the inherent message. Is there anything that literary icon was trying to infer that is out of place today? Is there anything missing in the messaging? What is man indeed outside honour?

The answer is clear. A gilded loam (moulded sand) or painted clay – a decorated piece of earthenware – lifeless – empty! That was and still is the message. It is as germane, potent and instructive today, as it is in those years.

The difference however lies in what role the appreciation of this message plays as a tool to wading through life’s vagaries and discovering its purpose, impetus and essence. That is what separates one man from the other – the reason for countries to thrive and others to crumble and plummet – the different roads to riches and squalor.

Here is what I mean. Anyone conversant with Anammco, in Emene, Enugu, in the 1990s would not forget Rudi Kornmayer. He was the last Managing Director of the company, one of the dreams of Nigeria’s founding fathers. Remember the era of Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN), Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON), Leyland Nigeria (LN), et al.

What was it that this country didn’t have to make it great? What was it that our progenitors didn’t hand over to us to make Nigeria leap to the zenith of economic and social development? But, let’s keep the lamentations aside for now. That’s not the story. The story is about Kornmayer, the last German top notch to exit that dream company, from where some freshly minted vehicles rolled out, some years back.

In July, 2005, more than a decade after he had left country, the shocking story of his death hit the the newsstand. The shock was not in his death alone. Yes, he was just 53 being a young man and with the life expectancy in his native land he was expected to have lived longer. It was in the manner he died.

It was said that Kornmayer on July 22, 2005, six days after his birthday, drove to an open field and shot himself in his native country Germany. Why? A local media, was said to have reported how he engaged in some corrupt practices while working in Nigeria. Because he couldn’t live with the shame of being linked with fraud, he decided to end it all.

You needed to know about this fine German and the work he did in Anammco, to appreciate the incredulity of his fatal end. Even though the company had started witnessing some hiccups, before his exit, his tenure still counted as part of its golden era, before Nigerians who took over, eventually balkanised, brought it to ruination and finally killed the dream.

What was at the centre of that tragic story of Kornmayer, who, regardless of his glorious era in Nigeria, couldn’t stand a tiny stain to his name? Reputation – honour, the two elements Shakespeare identified as the only essence and impetus to life, without, which man is not more useful than a piece of lifeless object.

Now, have you started getting my drift? I recall, months before his brutal murder, the Cicero himself, the late Bola Ige delivering a lecture at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus (UNEC). For about 30 minutes of his treatise, he spent it talking about the element of honour and its purifying impact to the soul, as well as being the vortex that propels life, be it of an individual, or, and a nation. So poignant and pungent were his delivery that I had no doubt in my mind that his murder could not be divorced from how tenaciously he held and applied such a lofty ideal.

Now, how does this affect the price of garri and milk? I’ll tell you. It is the reason your country, my country, Nigeria is at its present prostrate position today. If today, there was a grain of honour in Nigerians or in the recent decades – even as tiny as a mustard seed, companies like Anammco, VON, PAN, Leyland, would still be thriving today – Nigeria would be a thriving entity – a land flowing with milk and honey. But you know what, not only does a known thief go before the alter, stick out his tongue and receive holy communion, the most sacred gift to mankind, but actually be proud to throw the money he signed a day before around as the chairman of the church bazaar, with the priest, who knows the source of the money – they should know, because the salaries of civil servants are not hidden – will celebrate him as “pillar of the church.”

Kornmayer might have taken it too far. You might say that suicide may not be the ideal and not all men possess the courage to go that route. But the import of his action, cannot be lost either – that there must be consequences for wrongdoing or perception of it.

Just a few months ago, Andrew Cuomo, then Governor of New York resigned from his exalted office for the simple reason of hugging women. He loved his job and would have loved to hold on. It didn’t matter that his native country, Italy, had a culture of hugging, kissing and engaging in other public show of affection as signs of love, greeting and appreciation. He tried to present that as his defence, but it didn’t jell, because the American society thought differently. And in the US, public perception matters a lot. So, what to do? He relinquished his position. Even his brother, Chris Cuomo, was fired from his plum job at the CNN, for the perception, mind you, not conviction, of helping the ex-governor during his travails, using the medium.

You saw how Boris Johnson exited his position as UK Prime Minister when his cup was finally full. He would have been sent packing earlier for partying in the heat of the COVID-19, when the rest of the British citizens he led, were confined to their homes, but got away with just a slap on the wrist. But when it came to the last straw, of knowingly appointing someone with a record of abusing women into his cabinet, he had no other choice but throw in the towel.

From Europe, America, and other western countries, there are millions of cases to cite to underscore the imperative of morality not only on individual, but more so, public life. Does that say anything today about the difference in the two climes – the West and Africa? Mind you, it’s not that these people suffer less pull from dipping itchy fingers into the common till of their people. The difference is in the consequences. Of course, just like we do here, the system many times exposes such malfeasances. However while those in that clime, prefer to drink hemlock rather than withstand the shame, or at the best, quit their positions, it is a totally different picture here in Africa-Nigeria.

Naturally, it might be a tall order to expect any man to meet the standard of a spotless reputation, the “purest treasure” Shakespeare envisaged. Haven’t all sinned and come short of the glory? But there must be a minimum.

On Monday, December 19, 2022, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, took a look at Doyin Okupe, then Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (LP-PCO) and told him, that he had to pay the price of ignorance, for accepting money in excess of N5million without going through the bank, as provided by the money laundering Act.

Mind you, she had absolved him of other charges, bothering on corruption, but here, she got stuck. Though she recognised that Okupe had acted out of ignorance, but she had to apply the well-established dictum – ignorance is no excuse in law – all the same. So, the gavel fell and the LP chieftain was handed down a damning verdict of two years imprisonment for what she described as an “honest mistake.”

Now, pan to the LP. You cannot talk about the party and the progress it has made in becoming one of the political wonders in Nigeria’s history without the imprimatur of Okupe. Right from the beginning, he had been there for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party. Even when the issue of the running mate was being dealt with, he donated himself as the placeholder for the position.

What would a typical Nigerian politician have done in Okupe’s shoes? He would probably have stuck to his guns using every argument to remain in that office. Any suggestion by Obi to the contrary, would have been interpreted as an affront and show of ingratitude. Okupe would have cited his bragging rights, by reminding all that cared to listen how much he helped to build the house and adumbrated it with the comments of Ojukwu that his was an “honest mistake.”

Of course, having carved out his own swathe of supporters, all with swords unsheathed, he would be ready to wage war against anyone. He would also tell all ears that he still had up to the Supreme Court to prove his innocence. Depending on the thinking of the party, the matter might be treated as an internal affair, in which case, members would take all available public space to urge Nigerians to await the final judgement of the court. The drama will continue and the beat will simply go on.

However, Okupe took a completely different route. He didn’t cling to power. His party, even with a heavy dose of suspicion that this was a case of the evil bird crying at night and the baby dying in the morning, took the disappointment of losing such a critical figure in its strides and now, things are moving on. Recall that this wouldn’t be the first time. It was the same case with John Enenche, the retired General of the Nigerian Army, who also stepped down, when he was called out over the #EndSARS matter. That is the exhilarating part of the new phenomenon being propelled within the LP – the principle of letting go – it has never been part of life in Nigeria.

Now , take a look at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If Iyorchia Ayu, the National Chairman of the party, had being an Okupe, would the party have descended into such an intractable crisis today? This was a man, who publicly claimed that if the party produced a northerner as its presidential candidate, he would step down. Has he? Instead, together with Atiku Abubakar, they are rather exploiting all available argument to circumvent and circumscribe the issue.

If you thought for one moment that they’re acting out of their convictions, then the joke is on you. They know that they’re travelling on a wrong route. But they’re unperturbed, because they’re relying on the old way, where integrity and reputation are sacrificed as victims and shame is a stranger. Why? Of course, they’re sure of winning, willy-nilly.

Pan to the All Progressives Congress (APC). What is worse than the Chicago papers linking their presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to drug business? Yet, regardless of the weighty evidence, including the forfeiture of a whopping $460,000, he has continued carry on with cavalier attitude as if nothing matters. Would this happen any other place in the civilised world? He wouldn’t even stand any media scrutiny. Rather, he organises his own meetings, where he’s sure nobody would stay off-course.

Interestingly, there is always a ready answer to anyone who questions him – go to court. If you don’t know what that means in the Nigerian context, the joke is on you. Ask yourself why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), that pursued Okupe, never bothered to check the contents of those bullion vans that pulled into Tinubu’s Bourdillon home in Ikoyi, Lagos on the eve of the 2019 presidential election.

Before he moved on, Okupe had some words: “God is not man. The enemies have tried in so many ways but keep failing…Victory is of God. Lies, fabrication and disinformation are their tools. But in the end they will fail and be shamed. Doyin Okupe has not chopped any shishi neither has he shifted base by 1mm!!! We are moving forward till God delivers us all from perpetual raiders of this lost but glorious ark. Naija.”

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of the LP-PCC had told the world that Okupe’s travail, was an ambush by naysayers, with the aim of plunging a dagger in the heart of Obi’s ambition, a development he sees as a failed mission.

Okupe has moved. Obi has also moved ahead with his campaigns gathering momentum. Nigerians, who would be ultimate deciders are also watching. So, is a Just God!

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Akpabio’s three years of transformative and impactful legislative leadership

Published

7 hours ago

June 13, 2026

Whirlwindnews

By Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr

When Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio assumed office as President of Nigeria’s 10th Senate in June 2023, expectations were understandably high. Nigeria was grappling with economic headwinds, persistent security challenges, and growing public demand for more responsive and effective democratic institutions. In such a climate, the National Assembly was expected not merely to make laws, but to provide leadership, strengthen oversight, and restore public confidence in governance.

Three years into his tenure, the Senate under Akpabio has increasingly sought to position itself as a stable, proactive, and policy-driven legislative institution. Through a combination of legislative initiatives, institutional reforms, parliamentary diplomacy, and engagement with critical national issues, the Senate has played a visible role in shaping the country’s governance landscape. While critics have raised concerns on certain matters—an inevitable feature of democratic leadership—the overall record presents a legislature that has remained active, cohesive, and focused on its constitutional responsibilities during a period of significant national transition.

The foremost responsibility of any legislature is lawmaking, and in this regard, the 10th Senate has maintained an ambitious legislative agenda. Hundreds of bills have been introduced and processed, many of them directly targeting Nigeria’s pressing economic, fiscal, and governance challenges. According to Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, in a midterm scorecard released in June 2025, the upper chamber introduced 983 bills and passed 108 into law between June 2023 and June 2025. This included 83 bills passed in the 2024/2025 legislative year alone, compared to 25 bills in the 9th Senate in the same period. Official legislative records also indicate a significant rise in legislative activity compared to previous assemblies, suggesting that the 10th Senate has been notably active by legislative output metrics.

More significant than the volume of legislation, however, has been the Senate’s focus on measures with far-reaching national implications. The emphasis has not been on legislative activity for its own sake, but on advancing reforms designed to address some of Nigeria’s most pressing economic and governance challenges. The Senate has prioritised reforms aimed at stimulating economic growth, improving public finance management, strengthening institutions, and expanding social protection.

One of the defining legislative undertakings of the 10th Senate has been its commitment to tax reform and fiscal modernization. Nigeria’s tax system has long been criticised for fragmentation, multiple taxation, weak compliance, and excessive dependence on oil revenue. Under Akpabio’s leadership, the Senate pursued reforms aimed at simplifying tax administration, broadening the tax base, promoting digital compliance, and providing greater relief for small businesses and low-income earners. In May 2025, the Senate passed four major tax reform bills which, according to the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms and now Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, could increase Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio from about 10 per cent in 2023 to approximately 18 per cent by the end of 2027.

These reforms are significant because Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio remains among the lowest in Africa, limiting government revenue and public investment capacity. By supporting measures aimed at modernising tax collection and reducing leakages, the Senate sought to create a more sustainable fiscal framework capable of supporting infrastructure, education, healthcare, and social services.

Beyond fiscal reforms, the Senate has devoted significant legislative attention to education, regional development, agriculture, energy, and the digital economy. Bills relating to tertiary education, regional development etc commissions, agricultural growth, and public sector modernization have featured prominently on its agenda. Notable examples include the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, which reportedly facilitated over one million applications through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, and the Electricity Act (Amendment) 2023, which expanded the role of states and private investors in electricity generation and distribution.

To strengthen the country’s electoral process, the Senate also pursued amendments to the Electoral Act aimed at improving internal party democracy and clarifying procedures around party primaries and consensus candidacies. Supporters of the reforms argue that clearer legal definitions and procedural safeguards could help reduce arbitrary candidate selection and strengthen transparency within political parties. Senate Leader Bamidele has also indicated that additional reforms, including possible provisions for diaspora voting and early voting for security personnel, remain priorities for the remaining legislative period.

Beyond lawmaking, one of the less visible but significant developments of the 10th Senate has been institutional stability. Historically, Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber has often been characterised by prolonged leadership disputes, partisan confrontations, and disruptions capable of slowing governance processes. Under Akpabio’s leadership, however, the Senate has largely maintained operational cohesion and stability.

Plenary debates have generally remained issue-focused rather than personality-driven, while contentious national matters have often been managed through consultation and negotiation. This atmosphere of relative stability has reduced legislative deadlocks and allowed committees to function with greater consistency.

The Senate President’s leadership style has leaned heavily toward consultation and consensus-building. In a politically diverse chamber comprising members of the APC, PDP, Labour Party, NNPP, SDP, and other minority parties, Akpabio has consistently emphasized bipartisan cooperation over rigid partisanship. Committee appointments, major motions, and sensitive legislative debates have reflected efforts to accommodate competing interests while preserving institutional cohesion.

As a result, the 10th Senate has witnessed substantial cross-party cooperation on key national issues, even though disagreements naturally remain part of democratic governance.

Another area in which the Senate has demonstrated effectiveness is budgetary coordination. For three consecutive fiscal years, the National Assembly passed the national budget before the start of the new financial year. The 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion, for instance, was approved on December 30, 2023, ahead of the fiscal cycle. The Senate also passed the 2024 and 2025 appropriations totalling N43.5 trillion, although implementation timelines for some projects were subsequently extended to facilitate completion.

This marked a departure from previous cycles characterised by delayed budget approvals and implementation uncertainty. Timely budget passage improves predictability for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, enhances investor confidence, allows contractors to plan more effectively, and supports smoother execution of government projects. In a developing economy like Nigeria, where public expenditure plays a major role in economic activity, budget stability remains important to growth and development.

At the same time, the Senate has continued to discharge its constitutional oversight responsibilities through investigative hearings, committee reviews, and ministerial screenings. During periods of persistent fuel scarcity, the Senate leadership engaged key stakeholders in the petroleum sector, including an oversight visit to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Supporters contend that the intervention helped keep national attention focused on domestic refining capacity and crude supply arrangements.

Subsequent Federal Government measures, including support for naira-denominated crude transactions, were widely viewed as part of a broader effort to ease supply constraints and calm the downstream market. Today, the long fuel queues that once defined daily life have receded considerably, although deeper challenges in the energy sector remain.

On the international stage, the Senate under Akpabio has strengthened parliamentary diplomacy, carrying Nigeria’s voice into global conversations on democracy, development, security, and international cooperation. Nigeria has assumed a more visible role within the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), contributing to debates on democratic governance, collective security, climate resilience, and legislative best practices. Through these engagements, the Senate has sought not only to advance Nigeria’s interests but also to position the country as a constructive participant in addressing shared global challenges.

A notable diplomatic milestone was Nigeria’s election into the IPU Executive Committee for the first time in decades, a development widely interpreted as recognition of the country’s renewed parliamentary engagement within international legislative circles. Akpabio was also designated to serve on the Preparatory Committee for the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in 2024.

Domestically, one of the Senate’s most consequential constitutional moments came in August 2023 during the crisis in the Niger Republic following the military coup. When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, acting as Chairman of ECOWAS, sought legislative backing for possible regional intervention, the Senate urged restraint and prioritized diplomatic engagement over immediate military action. Widely viewed as a demonstration of legislative independence and respect for the principle of separation of powers, the decision reaffirmed the Senate’s constitutional role in matters of security and foreign policy while underscoring a preference for dialogue, diplomacy, and regional stability at a moment of heightened tension across West Africa.

No balanced assessment of the 10th Senate can entirely overlook concerns raised by critics and observers. Questions have occasionally been raised regarding the depth of scrutiny applied during the confirmation of some executive nominees, while certain oversight investigations produced outcomes that critics considered less robust than expected.

In broader terms, the 10th Senate has combined increased legislative activity with relative political stability while attempting to align its priorities with Nigeria’s economic and governance realities. Supporters point to the passage of the National Minimum Wage Amendment Act, the Investments and Securities Act, and multiple regional development commission bills as examples of substantive legislation with potentially long-term national impact.

With one legislative year remaining before the next election cycle begins to dominate political discourse, the principal test facing the 10th Senate may ultimately be one of implementation and public confidence. If the tax reforms strengthen revenue generation, if the student loan programme continues to expand educational access without major controversy, and if the Senate further enhances oversight transparency, the chamber may secure a more enduring institutional legacy. Conversely, if concerns about public perception and executive accommodation persist, critics may continue to question whether legislative productivity has translated into sufficient institutional independence. It is worth noting, however, that history suggests the most successful periods of national development have often occurred not during eras of executive-legislative confrontation, but when both arms of government cooperated effectively while remaining faithful to their distinct constitutional responsibilities.

If the reforms advanced by the Senate continue to produce measurable national impact, and if the institution successfully addresses concerns relating to oversight and accountability, history may ultimately remember the 10th Senate not merely as a productive legislature, but as one that contributed to stabilising governance and repositioning democratic institutions during a consequential period in Nigeria’s development.

* Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr is a former member and Spokesperson in the House of Representatives and currently, the Special Adviser on Media/ Publicity and Official Spokesperson to the President of the 10th Senate.

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Bola Tinubu: The man who took the bullet for Nigeria to survive

Published

2 weeks ago

May 30, 2026

Whirlwindnews

By Bayo Onanuga

With politicking intensifying ahead of the January 2027 election, opposition politicians have escalated their campaign of misinformation and calumny to diminish the impact and achievements of this administration over the last three years.

Two years ago, when the administration was struggling to deal with the unintended consequences of its historic reforms, the campaign would have made sense. But not anymore, as the administration can rightly claim bragging rights for what it has achieved against all odds and why the international community is applauding it for putting Nigeria irrevocably on the path of growth and development.

The impact of the three-year-old government is best felt at the subnational level – state and local levels. States that hitherto were unable to pay salaries by May 2023, with months of unpaid obligations to their workers and pensioners, are now doing so with ease and dreaming big about infrastructure. In every state I have visited, I have seen this development. Ogun, my state, Oyo, Nasarawa, Enugu, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, and others have witnessed development projects spring up, thanks to President Tinubu’s re-engineering of the federation’s finances and increased allocation to the states. When local councils begin to receive their allocations directly from the Federation Account, the Tinubu effect will ensure that more governance cascades down to the 774 local councils.

State governors who have benefited from this policy have openly admitted that increased allocations have enabled them to bring social and infrastructural development to their states. Many opposition PDP governors who joined the APC did so for this reason—not for the baseless claim that President Tinubu bribed them. Governor Abdulrazak said in December 2024 that his administration embarked on more projects in the first 18 months of Tinubu’s presidency than in his first four years. The Governor of Ebonyi, Nwifuru, who is building iconic underpasses and overpasses in Abakaliki, credited his ambition to President Tinubu. Governor Peter Mbah similarly attested to this, crediting the Naira rain from the centre for his programmes. And Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, who understands how Tinubu’s financial re-engineering and the end of the subsidy regime have increased the states’ fortunes, said President Tinubu “has taken the bullets for all of them.”

In May 2023, President Tinubu inherited acute petrol scarcity, an unsustainable petrol subsidy regime due to expire in June 2023, multiple exchange rates, arbitrage, and low revenue, with at least 30 states unable to pay workers, let alone fund infrastructure and social projects. Debt servicing consumed 97 per cent of Federal revenue. Additionally, food scarcity and inflation plagued the country as farmers abandoned their fields, recording massive losses amid the currency squeeze introduced by former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.

President Tinubu, guided by the Renewed Hope Agenda, wasted no time. He threw the ruinous subsidy out of the window from Day One. Days later, he floated the Naira and ended the artificial fixing of the Naira-to-dollar exchange rate, a system that had enabled well-connected individuals to profit effortlessly. Tinubu declared a food emergency and announced the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms to examine our outdated tax laws, some of which date back to the colonial era. Immediate gains included encouraging dry-season farming, with subsidies and inputs provided for farmlands abutting dams and irrigation sites in at least 14 states.

Even by President Tinubu’s admission, the early months and the first year were tough as the government implemented its programme. The cost of living went up, and businesses claimed the harmonised exchange rate had put them in the red. A few companies even closed shop and left our shores. On the streets, some Nigerians claimed that the policies have left them hungry, a sentiment the opposition still parrots to this day, without any empirical proof. If not sure of the salience of his reforms, President Tinubu would have taken a reverse gear in fright and abandoned all the new reform policies amid the avalanche of attacks from critics and opposition elements in the media. Instead, he persisted.

Two years after the first challenging year, the story has changed for good. However, some opposition elements are stuck in the sentiment of 2023/24, unyielding and adamant about acknowledging the many gains and milestones achieved by the Tinubu administration. But only the blind will fail to admit that this government has taken the country miles away from the state it inherited in 2023.

The stock market is clear proof of the administration’s economic success. In May 2023, Tinubu met the All-Share Index at 53,000 points and the market capitalisation at N30 Trillion. Today, the ASI has risen five times, to a record 250,000 and a market capitalisation of N160 Trillion. Blue-chip companies, including those initially negatively impacted by government policies, are declaring record profits and dividends. Equally, foreign portfolio investors are flocking in to partake in the Nigerian boom. This is not a bubble. It shows that a fundamental paradigm shift has occurred in the economy, all thanks to the Tinubu administration’s policy direction.

In recent weeks, I revisited the manifesto and policy ambitions that won us the election. The Tinubu administration has faithfully implemented its Renewed Hope Agenda, striving to resolve in three years the cumulative problems of decades.

Roads that will outlast this generation are being built nationwide. I recently went home to Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, and was amazed that the highway to my town from the Shagamu intersection now has a concrete pavement, thick enough to withstand the traffic of trailers from the West to the East. The most audacious road projects ever undertaken by any administration since independence are the Illela-Sokoto-Badagry and the Lagos-Calabar coastal superhighways. President Shehu Shagari conceived the Sokoto-Badagry highway in the early 80s. Succeeding administrations, afraid of the huge cost, abandoned the road. The Lagos-Calabar has also been on the map for decades, but no leader has ever dared to turn the idea into reality. President Tinubu has proven to be a transformative leader who has decided to turn the roads into reality, adding new roads to our road network for the first time, beyond those we inherited from the colonialists. Myopic critics of the two roads have assailed the Tinubu administration for taking loans to accomplish them. How else could the roads have been built if we rely only on FG’s share from FAAC? Relying solely on federal allocations would mean waiting 50 years or more, with costs ballooning out of reach, as in the metro-rail to nowhere started by presidential aspirant Rotimi Chibuke Amaechi in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. In the states, governors are building roads of similar standards. I saw some of these in Ogun, Kaduna, Ebonyi and Enugu.

As with roads, the Tinubu administration is also investing heavily in rail transportation, with the Kaduna-Kano-Gusau-Maraadi rail network scheduled for completion next year. City rail networks in Kaduna, Lagos, Kano and Enugu have been approved for construction, along with the Lekki-Ibadan rail.

When historians write about the Tinubu administration in 2031, they will not remember it only for audacious road and rail networks, but also for historic reforms. The oil and gas sector is one area in which the administration has impacted the country. Apart from ending the regime of wasteful subsidies, the government has instituted reforms that have made the sector attractive to fresh investment. International Oil Companies(IOCs) that once shunned our country are returning with billions of dollars in investment. Domestic refining and the innovative Naira-for-crude policy are ensuring energy security, thereby avoiding acute scarcity arising from the disruptive war against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. More recently, the administration enacted a policy requiring the NNPC to remit oil sales proceeds to the Federation account.

Confronted by the administration’s stellar performance, the opposition and media propagandists dredged up a campaign video of the President promising a 24/7 power supply. They distorted his words. What he actually said was: “Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for an estimated bill anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept. If I don’t keep the promise and I come for a second term, don’t vote for me, unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”

What the distorters failed to admit was that the Discos, privatised since 2013 by President Goodluck Jonathan, are responsible for delivering power to the end consumers, not the Federal Government. What this government has done in the last three years has been to address the problems hindering the capacity of Discos to deliver, such as bringing Siemens to strengthen the grid, activating idle GENCOs, and planning to clear the N4 trillion legacy debts owed to GENCOs and GASCos, which will encourage new investments in the sector. The government has also massively implemented its metering policy, providing over 2.5 million meters to homes. Recently, the Tinubu administration announced the establishment of GAMCO, the Grid Asset Management Company, which will optimise power supply and activate idle facilities.

One of the administration’s impactful programmes, apart from issuing passports in less than a week, is the introduction of NELFUND and CREDICORP in 2024. While Credicorp is making loans available to civil servants to buy Made-In-Nigeria products, NELFUND, with N282 billion committed so far, has made tertiary education more accessible for our children. About 1.6 million Nigerian students have benefited. Payment of school fees and stipends is assured for the children, and the government has also renegotiated the 2009 ASUU-FG agreement, such that in the last three years, our universities, along with the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, have been spared the disruptive academic strikes. Let’s give the Tinubu government some slack: a four-year programme is now a four-year programme. He promised it during the campaign and has delivered. The government has also invested in technical schools, offering students pursuing vocational education allowances. In the universities, TETFUND is once again funding research grants for dons willing to pursue ideas that will be useful to our society.

Among impactful programmes, apart from issuing passports in less than a week, are NELFUND and CREDICORP, introduced in 2024. Credicorp makes loans available to civil servants for Made-In-Nigeria products, while NELFUND, with N282 billion committed, has made tertiary education more accessible. About 1.6 million students have benefited. School fees and stipends are assured, and the government has renegotiated the 2009 ASUU-FG agreement, sparing universities from disruptive strikes. Today, a four-year programme in the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education is completed in four years. Technical schools offer allowances to vocational students, and TETFUND is funding research grants to academics.

It has not been all rosy the past three years, especially in the area of making our people safe from the band of bandits and terrorists. While the armed forces have been locked in an asymmetrical war against these heartless elements, neutralising their leaders and foot soldiers in several theatres of conflict, the displaced terrorists are attacking vulnerable areas in some of the states, killing and kidnapping. The government is unrelenting in providing the armed forces, intelligence agencies, and police with the tools they need to wage the war. With support from friendly governments like the US, France, and the UK, there is hope that the menace of kidnappers and their political sponsors will become history. The man who has taken the bullets to make Nigeria survive a fiscal disaster is even more willing to take additional bullets to make all Nigerians safe.

Onanuga is Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy

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The man who saw tomorrow: Senator Akpabio and the uncommon politics of certainty

Published

4 weeks ago

May 20, 2026

Whirlwindnews

By Hon Eseme Eyiboh

Let us begin with a confession. There is something unsettling about a politician who no longer appears to struggle.

In the turbulent theatre of Nigerian politics, where noise is often mistaken for relevance, where primaries resemble wrestling contests and delegate management demands the instincts of a hostage negotiator, a man who walks in unopposed does not merely win. He transforms the entire contest into a rehearsal.

On Monday, May 18, 2026, at Methodist Primary School, Ukana, in Essien Udim Local Government Area, Senator Godswill Akpabio did exactly that. No contest. No drama. No nervous counting of votes. He simply emerged as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District without a single challenger.

While many politicians remain trapped in the exhausting rituals of horse trading, factional bargaining, and survival politics, Akpabio’s good works delivered something far rarer in Nigeria’s political environment than gold itself. Absolute consensus.

To the casual observer, an unopposed return may suggest the absence of competition. That would be a dangerously shallow interpretation.
Those familiar with the political phenomenon long associated with the “Uncommon Transformer” understand the distinction clearly. An unopposed ticket does not mean nobody desired to contest. Politics naturally attracts ambition the way light attracts insects. Power always generates interest. Influence always provokes aspiration.
What an unopposed return truly means is far more significant: potential challengers surveyed the landscape, studied the numbers, weighed the networks, measured the emotional connection between the man and the political structure around him, and quietly concluded that the road to victory simply did not exist.
There is a profound difference between lack of opposition and the collapse of viable opposition

Why is there no road to victory for others? Because what Akpabio has built in Akwa Ibom State in general and Akwa Ibom North West in particular is no longer merely a political structure. It is a fortress. Its walls are not made of concrete. They are made of cultivated loyalty. Enduring networks. Strategic generosity. And the unspoken understanding that confronting him politically is not simply difficult. It is often futile and absurd.

The atmosphere at the ward centre resembled less a political exercise and more a carnival of affirmation. Supporters, community leaders, women groups, youths, and party faithful gathered not to determine an outcome but to endorse a grace carrier already settled in the public imagination. The votes were counted without end. The votes were celebrated.

Here is the remarkable part.

The whispers surrounding Akpabio’s dominance do not come only from admirers. They come from seeming opponents too.

They do not fear his voice. They fear his results. They do not tremble at confrontation. They confront something more sobering: the recognition that within his political territory, the arithmetic has been solved with almost clinical precision.

While others are still assembling coalitions, Akpabio consolidated his long ago. While rivals continue calculating delegate figures, he has already moved to the next question: what happens after victory? How does political power translate into enduring relevance and measurable impact?

That is the distinction between a career politician and a political architect. One chases office. The other shapes the terrain on which the chase itself occurs.

Since assuming office as President of the 10th Senate, Akpabio has projected a measure of stability within the Red Chamber. That should not be understated.

The Nigerian Senate has earned a reputation for turbulence over the years. Leadership rebellions. Internal fractures. Floor dramas that generate headlines while weakening governance and social democratic structures. Against that backdrop, a Senate President capable of maintaining institutional stability without recurring crises becomes more than merely effective. He becomes uncommon.

His admirers see in him a politician who has consistently combined institutional authority with emotional loyalty from his base through the National to International arena. From Governor to Minister to Senate President, his rise is framed as the journey of a man who understood tomorrow before others arrived there. A politician deeply conscious of timing, alignment, and the delicate craft of converting social capital into durable influence and uncommon power (political capital).

This point matters enormously. Political capital is easy to squander. This point matters enormously. Political goodwill is easy to destroy. Many politicians exhaust it through arrogance, exclusion, or the endless pursuit of personal advantage. But Akpabio appears to understand something deeper about leadership: goodwill grows when people genuinely feel seen, valued, included, and carried along.
Over the years, he has cultivated relationships not merely through politics, but through accessibility, generosity of spirit, loyalty to associates, and an unusual ability to make people feel remembered even in the midst of high office. That is why his support structure often appears less like a coalition held together by convenience and more like a community bound by shared experience and enduring personal connection.
What some interpret merely as political dominance may actually be the long-term harvest of sustained human investment.
And perhaps that explains the ease with which the field gradually cleared around him. Not because opposition was forcibly silenced, but because many within the political environment saw little wisdom in disrupting a consensus built around continuity, stability, experience, and an existing relationship of trust.
His commitment to continue working closely with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Umo Eno reinforces a broader message of continuity and strategic alignment. At a time when fragmentation remains the temptation of many ambitious actors, Senator Akpabio has chosen coordination. That is not a weakness. It is political arithmetic.

And this is where the conversation shifts from the present to the near future. The same political capital that secured his senatorial return without resistance is not a one-use currency. It accumulates. It compounds. The goodwill he has cultivated, the equilibrium he has maintained, and the pragmatic preference for results over rhetoric are not merely tools for another Senate term. They form the foundation of something larger and forthcoming.

The crystal ball is not required to observe the trajectory. A Senate President who secures his own return effortlessly, stabilises a chamber historically associated with instability, aligns himself with the centre of national power grid while maintaining grassroots legitimacy, is a Senate President who has solved one of Nigerian politics’ most difficult equations.

He has demonstrated to his colleagues that he can deliver. He has shown the party hierarchy that he can be trusted. He has reassured constituents that proximity to power has not disconnected him from them.

This combination is rarer than any single attribute standing alone. So when the 11th Senate eventually convenes and the question of leadership emerges once again, the conversation may prove shorter than many anticipate. Not because there will be no interested contenders. There always are. But because the arithmetic of loyalty, institutional experience, strategic alignment, and demonstrated political capacity will already have completed its quiet work.

Akpabio has not formally declared interest in leading the 11th Senate. He does not need to. The declaration already exists in the pattern of his movements, the stability of his stewardship, and the political field he has cleared without visible strain. It is simply the discipline of reading political signs as they present themselves* .

In the end, Nigerian politics rewards those who understand the people more deeply than those who merely master performance and noise.That is not sentimentality. It is a political reality.

A politician capable of delivering his constituency without violence, panic, or emergency intervention is a politician who understands something fundamental: power is never truly declared. It is demonstrated. And it is demonstrated most convincingly when nobody steps forward to challenge it.

On that Monday in Ukana, the drums rolled. Praises echoed across the gathering. And the political message arrived without ambiguity. In Akwa Ibom North West, the conversation has moved beyond opposition. What remains is an audience waiting to see the next chapter unfold without ceasing.

Senator Godswill Akpabio has once again reminded observers that in certain political spaces, dominance is not always loud.

Sometimes, it is simply complete. And in the intricate chessboard of Nigerian politics, where many players are still learning how the pieces move, that level of mastery remains rare, consequential, and deeply potent.

The man who saw tomorrow understood something else too. The loudest voice in the room is rarely the one that prevails.

The one that prevails is the one that no longer needs to shout because everybody already understands. And that is what Senator Godswill Akpabio has demonstrated that he is the man who saw tomorrow.

Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr is a former member and Spokesperson of the House of Representatives and currently Special Adviser, Media/Publicity and official Spokesperson to the President of the Senate

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