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Nigeria on the threshold of massive change – Utomi *Host 13-hour global interactive parley for Obi
“Nigeria is in the throes of unprecedented massive change, from a period of inactive citizenship to a period where citizens themselves are the ones creating political movements.”
These were the exact words of Pat Utomi, Nigeria’s renowned political economist, at the opening of one of the political platforms, currently at the base of mobilising support for Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party, for next month’s presidential election.
Under the canopy of Big Tent Coalition, the group made up of political parties and civil society groups held a 13-hour-long conversation in which Nigerians from across the world gathered to give fillip to the making of the ObiDatti project a reality, through.
The first telethon on Nigerian television, between 10am to 10pm, saw the participants on a live programme to engage Nigerians on the agenda of the Obi-Datti Movement, according to a statement signed by Charles Odibo, Director of Media and Communications for the Big Tent.
Utomi, who used the event to ginger Nigerians on the project, told them “to own the new direction for Nigeria and fund it and stop the tragedy of state not being able to function because governors who cannot pay pensions would go and borrow money, take half of the state’s budget from security account to pursue their political career interests.”
At the event, the Big Tent convener also unveiled ObiDatti Compassion Angels as one of his commitments in raising funds through the telethon to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps across Northern Nigeria with nutritious hot meals in this harmattan season.
Utomi, while reminding Nigerians that the country was in the throes of a revolution, said: “Nigeria is in the throes of unprecedented massive change, from a period of inactive citizenship to a period where citizens themselves are the ones creating political movements.”
Utomi, who categorised the society into four categories, identified citizens as the best because, at that level that recognition is given to shared humanity, adding: “What matters to them is the common good of all, not necessarily the primordial considerations. We have reached a stage in the Nigerian society where we ask who are the citizens, who are the tribesmen, who are the idiots amongst us.
“It looks like a group of citizens decided that enough was enough in terms of how much progress has Nigeria made and that process needed to kick up a broad tent that will bring people together, because they are human beings into a better view of their world. Nothing could have facilitated that happening more than the fact that as Peter Obi pointed out in his speech from Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, the naked truth of our reality is that bread will not be sold differently for a Yoruba man than it would be sold to a Kanuri man, so if there is going to be hunger it will get all of us. And guess what, there is hunger in the land.”
Utomi, who regretted that Nigeria now had the dubious status as the poverty capital of the world, lamented: “Our own government agency recently indicated that 133 million of us live in multifaceted, multidimensional poverty. What happened is that we have leadership that could not exercise imagination. This is why a new Nigeria under a new leadership is important because we have fallen to the bottom and are now saying enough is enough.”
Urging Nigerians to heed the call of the ObiDatti movement to “take back Nigeria,” he said the point the LP candidate had been making was that the structure of PDP and APC had crippled the country, “because the nature of the transactions in their structure is such that committed leaders cannot emerge from them, because its only about transactions.”
Highlighting the growth of the “Obidient” organic movement, Utomi stated that the “Labour Party and those who do not want to be partisan but wanted a new Nigeria which is possible, social movements, and labour unions, started to hold conversations that led to an organic movement that has thrown up a Peter Obi candidacy to the pole position, such that every poll of seriousness that has been conducted has put this so-called outsider ahead of the traditional party candidates.
“Therefore, having come where we have come to we needed to get the people to own this process. And what a better way than a telethon in which you put your money where your mouths are to own this process, own this new structure that will determine a new Nigeria in which pursuit of power is not for state capture, but pursuit of power is for use of power to serve the greater good of the greater number of our people.”
In an engaging and entertaining day that featured the likes of Onyeka Owenu, Tee Mac, and other promising young artistes, deep-dive experts from the Policy Review and Future View team of the Big Tent also gave further insight into the seven-pronged agenda of the ObiDatti’s acclaimed Manifesto.
On the policy direction being proposed by Obi to revive the nation’s comatose economy, two professors of economics from the Lagos Business School, Bongo Adi, and Associate Professor Franklin Ngwu provided a brief summary of the Manifesto on the economy, in terms of how to get the Nigerian economy working again.
Adi, said: “What we have today is a rentier system where, because it’s difficult to place Nigeria’s economy on the spectrum of economic models, which has created a misaligned economic system, the manifesto proposes to dismantle the structure of systems for all manner of subsidy, or rather rent seeking systems so that revenue will begin to flow back to the coffers of government.”
Echoing the sentiment, Ngwu offered: “To revive an economy you have to look at three policy directions – the monetary policy, fiscal policy, and supply side policies. Unfortunately the fiscal policy side has been on the back seat.”
Viewers from across the globe who watched on Television and streamed on all social media platforms called in to ask questions which were answered by panelists, anchored by Utomi, and later joined online by Peter Obi who talked about his commitment to revamping education as a bedrock for sustainable development, and recalled how he revamped education as Governor of Anambra state during his eight year tenure.
Panellists at the day long Telethon which ran from 10 am to 10 pm, included Dr. Austin Nweze, Lead Director at Big Tent, Dr. Chidi Okpaluba, a Director of the Big Tent Independent Campaign Council, Dr. Ifeanyi Nzegwu of the Lagos Business School, Mr. Soni Irabor, renowned broadcaster, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Dr. Loretta Oduwa Ogboro-Okor, Dr. Sam Amadi and Dr. Jerry Okolo, who are experts in power, and David Hundeyin, investigative journalist, amongst others.
Chekwas Okorie, founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), is leading the mobilisation of 35 million Igbo vote strength for the 2027 presidential election, in the belief that it will be a game changer to the political fortunes of the people.
Okorie, himself, once a presidential candidate, in an open letter to Ndigbo, on Monday, told them to take their fate in their hands through massive voter strength by taking advantage of the ongoing voter registration exercise of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to advance their position in the nation’s political space.
In the open letter titled: 2027: Auspicious Opportunity for the Igbo to Reclaim their Political Space in Nigeria, Okorie, Convener of the Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), called for the concerted efforts, indicating that he would be leading the mobilisation of 20 million Igbo voters in the South East and an another 15 million from those living in the remaining states outside Igboland.
He wrote: “I wish to commence this letter by reminding us that the Igbo population in Nigeria is unarguably the largest population by ethnic nationality. The Igbo ethnic nationality is by an undisputed wide margin the most geographically spread in Nigeria.
“Notwithstanding the failure of subsequent Nigerian governments to conduct population census since 2006; 20 years ago, studies have shown that Igbo people constitute about ninety-nine percent of the population in the Southeast geopolitical zone and approximately the second largest single ethnic population in the remaining thirty one states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Studies have also proved that there are indigenous lgbo populations in thirteen of the thirty-six states in Nigeria. In Nigeria’s brand of democracy, electoral victories are predicated on numerical strength and geographical spread.
“It, therefore, follows logically that a politically conscious Igbo electorate has no excuse not to be a critical factor in Nigeria’s political power equation at any given time since the return of democratic governance in Nigeria.”
Regarding the opportunities open for the people in 2027, he added: “This is not the time to apportion blame. The time to take our destiny in our hands and redeem ourselves is now or never.
“The INEC portal remains open for online continuous voters registration. Sadly, findings show that the Southeast is still trailing behind other geopolitical zones by a wide margin.
“Again, it is now possible for already registered voters to change their earlier registered polling units to their preferred polling units online for ease of voting on election day. This innovation has effectively removed the incidence of disenfranchisement by INEC officials or agents.
“The results of the 2023 elections published by INEC showed that the number of registered voters in the Southeast geopolitical zone was 11.5m, and the number of voters who participated in the presidential election was 2.2m.
“In spite of the fact that the Southeast recorded the least number of registered voters per geopolitical zone, the matter was worsened by the fact that a whopping 9.3m registered voters did not participate in the 2023 presidential election. We cannot continue to do this to ourselves.”
The former APGA boss, while bemoaning the effect of lack of interest in the electoral process, listed areas such apathy took a toll on the people, saying the situation must be reversed in the interest of Ndigbo.
Hear him: “Failure to register as a voter amounts to self-denial of one’s inalienable rights to participate in the recruitment of your preferred representative, governor, and president at all levels.
“Refusing to vote in the election means that you have inadvertently and unwittingly voted for the person or persons you ordinarily would not want to represent or govern you.
“In the likely event of a referendum or a plebiscite for self-determination, state creation, or the recall of a failed representative, only those with their valid voters cards will be eligible to participate in such crucial events.
“In the absence of a credible population census, it is the quantum of votes recorded by the Igbo that will be the yardstick to weigh Igbo political relevance in Nigeria.
“Igbo participation in the recruitment of elected leaders where they are domiciled anywhere in Nigeria immediately becomes their bargaining chip in making claims and demands for patronages and inclusiveness in those places.”
Stressing the efforts of the IAD to mobilise the people, he said its leadership, in active consultation and collaboration with a network of Igbo stakeholders, extant Igbo unions, Associations, Women Organizations, Youth Groups, Civil Society, and Pro-democracy organizations had agreed to embark on proactive and robust advocacy to promote Igbo political consciousness on a non-partisan basis.
He added: “The effort will include, but is not limited to town hall meetings to be held in major cities across the length and breadth of Nigeria. IAD has incorporated and established a functional office in the United States of America to coordinate and engage the vast Igbo diaspora population.
“We have set for ourselves the modest, realizable, and measurable target of ensuring that by the end of the ongoing window of the continuous voters registration exercise, the Southeast Geopolitical zone should be able to record an impressive figure of 20 million registered voters. In the same token, we project to mobilize about 15 million aggregate number of Igbo registered voters in the rest of the country.
“We are confident that with a minimum of 35 million Igbo voting bloc for the 2027 general elections, Ndigbo will be on their way to Igbo political resurgence and restoration of our long lost relevance and respect in Nigeria.”
NLNG, Nigeria’s goose that lays the golden eggs, is still upping the ante through its Vocational Innovation Business and Empowerment Scheme (VIBES), with the induction of a new cohort of 103 trainees into its 2026 empowerment programme.
Officials explained at the induction ceremony, held in Port Harcourt on Monday, which they said marked a significant milestone in the scheme’s ongoing commitment to skills development and sustainable economic empowerment that the newly inducted trainees would undergo a structured series of capacity-building sessions, culminating in a competitive pitching phase, during which the most viable business proposals would be selected based on clearly defined evaluation criteria.
“Simultaneously, 26 beneficiaries from the previous cohort, who successfully completed their training and graduated from the programmme had received grant support in the preceding year, marking the close of their training.
“One year after receiving support, several of the graduates have strengthened their operations, enhanced financial management practices, expanded their customer base, and transitioned from early-stage concepts to more structured, revenue-generating enterprises. Some have scaled up production and diversified their service offerings, demonstrating measurable business growth and improved operational stability, Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku Manager, Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, said in a statement.
The statement quoted Sophia Horsfall, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, as emphasising NLNG’s commitment to sustainable community development, stating:
“The VIBES programme reflects NLNG’s long-standing commitment to sustainable development in our host communities. Through targeted capacity building, access to innovative support, and enterprise development opportunities, we are strengthening the local economy across our host and pipeline communities. The graduation of one cohort and the induction of another showcase the continuity of our investment in youth empowerment, innovation, and enterprise development as key drivers of inclusive growth.”
She added that VIBES represents a strategic intervention aligned with NLNG’s broader sustainable development objectives. The programme is designed to cultivate entrepreneurial capability and strengthen the networks required for emerging business leaders and community change-makers to thrive within their communities.
Yemi Adeyemi, Manager, Community Relations and Sustainable Development, described the milestone as rewarding, noting the progress made by the graduating cohort.
His words: “When we supported them last year, it was not only with training but also with grants to help strengthen their businesses. A year later, we can see the difference, businesses are expanding, ideas have moved beyond the planning stage, and the beneficiaries are more confident in managing their ventures. That is the essence of VIBES, practical support that helps people make real progress.”
VIBES is NLNG’s economic empowerment programme designed to equip young entrepreneurs with the tools, knowledge, and support required to build sustainable livelihoods. Participants receive practical training in financial management, marketing, business strategy, and foundational legal principles, complemented by mentorship and advisory guidance from experienced professionals. This integrated approach combines capacity development with funding support to enable participants to scale their businesses, improve profitability, and build sustainable enterprises.
Economic empowerment remains a key component of NLNG’s broader sustainable development efforts, alongside education, infrastructure, and healthcare. Through VIBES, the company aims to support more young entrepreneurs in building viable businesses, creating economic value, and contributing meaningfully to the development of its host and pipeline communities across Rivers State.
Following the relaunch of the programme, 26 participants have so far benefited from the grant and completed their training under the initiative.
Monday’s bomb blast in parts of Maiduguri, claimed at least 23 lives while 108 people were injured, signals from the Borno State Police Command, confirmed on Tuesday.
Nahum Daso, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said in a statement on Tuesday, hours after the blast that happened in the state capital that suspected suicide bombers allegedly carried out the suicide attacks at 7:24pm on Monday.
Informing that preliminary investigations indicated that the explosions were carried out using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by suspected suicide bombers, Daso added that the incidents were carried out at the Maiduguri Central Market, popularly known as Monday Market, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital gate, and Post Office Flyover area of the town.
He said that a combined team of Police Tactical Units, military personnel, and other joint security operatives was swiftly deployed to the affected areas.
Stating that the scenes were immediately secured and cordoned off, while the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit conducted thorough sweep operations to ensure no additional threats remained, he stated that Naziru Abdulmajid, Commissioner of Police in the state, had already visited the scenes for an on-the-spot assessment while commiserating with victims and their families.
Daso, who assured residents of the command’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property, said that victims were evacuated by emergency responders, including the National Emergency Management Agency and Borno State Emergency Management Agency, to medical facilities for treatment.
He said normalcy had been restored in the affected areas, while security had been heightened across the metropolis to forestall further incidents.
Urging residents to remain calm and vigilant and report any suspicious movements or objects to security agencies, the command reiterated the its commitment to maintaining peace and security in the state.
The incident occurred less than 24 hours after suspected Boko Haram insurgents attacked Ajilari community at the outskirts of Maiduguri, indicating a return of violence to the capital which had remained the safest areas in recent times in the ugly campaign that has persisted for most of the last 16 years.
Earlier, suspected jihadists launched an overnight attack on a Nigerian military post on the outskirts of Maiduguri, while another attack took place in the Damboa local government area, south of Maiduguri.
With at least five explosions being reported in the last six months in the state, the fighters said to be from Boko Haram and rival jihadist group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) appear to have recently stepped up attacks in the in the decade-old campaign believed to have resulted in more than 40,000 deaths with around two million displaced.
They include the 24 December 2025 explosion at a mosque in Gamboru Market, Maiduguri, during the Maghrib prayer, which killed at least five people, and the explosion reported at Tashan Kifi (a fish market entry point) in Konduga town in June, 2025, when a female suicide bomber detonated explosives.
In April 2025, an IED explosion struck commuters travelling on a military-escorted convoy along the Maiduguri–Damboa Road, killing seven commuters.
In October 2025, Zulum called on the Federal Government to conduct an immediate and comprehensive review of the nation’s air safety and defence mechanisms.
Speaking in Mafa town, following a disturbing incident in which Boko Haram terrorists deployed a drone to attack a military formation in the state, signaling a dangerous escalation in the capabilities of the terrorist group, the governor expressed concern over the emergence of this new threat.
“One thing I want to comment on is the issue of drones. This is frightening. In Dikwa, I was told drones were used.
“The proliferation of drones, particularly in the hands of non-state actors, is of great concern for the entire country. We have to do something to stop the rampant use of armed drones,” Zulum had said.
2027: Ndigbo will rely on numerical strength – Okorie *Mobilises 35million Igbo votes
NLNG’s VIBES ups the ante: Recruits 103 into 2026 training programme
Maiduguri blast: Police confirm 23 dead, 108 wounded *They’ve introduced drones – Zulum
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