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Soludo: Is second term so sweet to be bought at the price of cowardice?
By Sunny Igboanugo
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s Independence on July 4, 2026, we look to Patrick Henry, a son of the frontier, the first and sixth Governor of Virginia, an unflinching advocate for American Independence, and a true man of his moment.
“Today, we invoke his courage, we honor his legacy, and we fearlessly summon the spirit of 1776 to build a future that we will be proud to impart on our children. Like Patrick Henry and the giants of American liberty who came before us, now is our time to ring that great bell of American freedom and to propel our Nation into a new and radiant golden age.
“NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 23, 2025, as a day in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s speech to the Second Virginia Convention.
“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of March the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.”
These were the words with which Donald Trump commemorated the 250th anniversary of Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, that epochal declaration on which America stood to unsheathe its sword from the scabbard to fight for independence.
Yes! On March 23, 1775, at the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry, a lawyer and preacher, rose to his feet to address the over 100 delegates including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and many other statesmen, who had gathered to decide the American fate in the hands of the British authorities.
So fiery were his words that these 100 men and many more, who had been wringing their fingers over their parlous fate decided to take that decisive option, which has now transformed their country to the most powerful on earth today – fight!
Fresh in their hearts was the memory of the bloody Boston Massacre and the British Parliament’s authoritarian imposition of the Intolerable Acts – which closed the Boston Harbor and stripped New England Colonists of their right to self-govern, and amid the escalating tensions between the Patriots and the Redcoats, these great men, still torn between continuing the pursuit of peace, or as a final recourse, to take up arms in the rebellion.
Then came Patrick Henry! Bystanders, who watched the scenario, said there was “an unearthly fire burning in his eye.” So moving, powerful and captivating were his words that one of the listeners standing by the window made a wish that he be buried at the exact spot he stood to listen, which was granted at his death.
Here are those words which made America what it is today: “Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” , had no further reason to tarry. With that push, those great men went on to sign the Declaration of Independence. And America was born!
On Thursday, June 12, 2025, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State was on hand with a similar outing. At the 2025 edition of The Platform – a national development initiative, and a yearly event put together by Poju Oyemade, Senior Pastor and Founder of The Covenant Nation (TCN), a church founded in 1994 with headquarters in Lagos, Soludo, displayed rare quality of oratory and superlative knowledge.
Listening to him, evoked the same emotions that must have made that bystander declare that he be buried at the spot he stood to hear Patrick Henry. I couldn’t be prouder that I breathe the same air with him as onye Anambra and more particularly, onye OAU. How couldn’t I? How many Nigerians could deliver half of the enchanting treatise, I had just listened to?
But of course, it is in the blood! O di na-obala. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chuba Okadigbo, Peter Obi, Soludo et al! Remember Obi’s stellar performance at the same The Platform in 2016, where he not only mesmerised the same audience, but practically sold himself to Nigerians and garnered the momentum, which has continued to bourgeon till date.
Yes, this tiny South East state not only posts the unique DNA of producing gifted speakers who could with words make men dare lions with bare hands, but men of courage who dared the same lions with their own hands as well.
Was it Zik, the Owelle of Onitsha, the undisputed father of Nigeria, who combined the power of oratory and rare courage to rally other compatriots to action against colonial masters for Nigeria to gain independence?
Was it Ojukwu, who displayed a yet to be matched courage and oratory to stop the monster eating up his people when he drew a line in the sand to provide safety for them as they fled the scenes of mindless butchery across the country and thereafter sustained a 30-month civil war, with a history that has remained a major puzzle in global military circles till date.
Had Okadigbo traded courage for compromise, if not cowardice, he would probably have served out his tenure as Senate President, and probably been alive today. But he chose the former, chose to fight. Yes, he not only lost his position but also his life. But great men like him, his place is firmly etched permanently on the positive side of history.
Today, could anyone speak of politics in Nigeria without Obi? But it comes with its own scars, earned in sustained political wars. Denied victory at the polls he fought his way to power. Impeached from office he returned. While Soludo was at The Platform and the entire gamut of Nigeria’s political leadership were jesting at the National Assembly and mocking Nigerians, Obi was showing the stuff he is made of, by addressing Nigerians on the real issues.
Now, picture if Soludo had chosen the part of rousing Nigerians to action with that breathtaking delivery decked in those powerful words which held his audience spellbound! But no! What followed was the direct opposite. He rather used the platform to offer lame and obtuse excuses spelt every bit disgrace than valour.
In my head since has been ringing this persistent bell: Where is Soludo’s own Anambra DNA of courage? Where, my compatriots? He couldn’t be that bereft of that basic essential that marks out the Anambra man. I ask because that is the only credible reason for this nauseating display of fawning and clowning around President Bola Tinubu, which has become his trademark in recent months. Nothing else!
How could Soludo, look Nigerians in the face and declare to them that Tinubu is not responsible for the current suffering in the land today? But that was the rotten egg the selfsame Soludo threw in the face of his audience after posting that classic delivery on Thursday.
Pray! If Tinubu is not responsible for why more than 30 million Nigerians have suddenly found their way into multi-dimensional poverty and why the country is the global poverty capital, who is?
It wasn’t enough that Charlie nwa-Mgbafo virtually poured vinegar to the festering wound of his people by rolling out the drums to celebrate the same man, who has wantonly cheated them daily, treated them like trash and reduced them to fourth-class citizens, but he had to climb the podium and with the klieg light and camera beamed on you, regale the world with such unearthly fallacy!
All because of second term? Haba! On that podium 250 years ago, Patrick Henry had challenged his compatriots, when he asked that famous question: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Today, I ask, is second term so dear to you, Charlie nwa-Mgbafo as to be earned by cowardice?
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
Hours after Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ordered issued a bench warrant for the arrest Adeniyi Adeyemi, the controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), is currently in the custody police authorities.
Pictures and videos of embattled PFIPC boss being questioned in what appeared an interrogation session, surfaced on social media on Tuesday evening, with few details still sketchy on whether the police actually hunted him down or he surrendered himself.
Latest information, indicate that he is currently in the custody of the Osun State Police Command, according to a report by Channels Television, who confirmed that he has been taken in.
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director-General (DG) of an alleged “non-existent,” Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The order came on the prompting of Wisdom Madaki, the police lawyer after Adeyemi failed to appear in court to take his plea before on an eight-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025, which relates to forgery, fraud and impersonation.
The court took the decision despite the spirited efforts by Genesis Francis, Adeyemi’s lawyer to mitigate the situation when he told Umar: “The defendant is afraid for his life. He has to be alive to be able to face trial. They have been looking for him even without an order of court.”
Regardless, the judge, while brushing aside the defence, said he was minded to accede to the application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against the defendant, noting since case was filed on November 27, 2025, with proceedings not commencing until December 4, 2025, Adeyemi did not appear before the court more than once.
“Since then, he has failed to appear before this court on four consecutive dates,” he said, while mandating security agencies to arrest and produce the embattled PFIPC boss before the court on September 30 for arraignment.
During trial, witnesses including Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President; Paul Emmanuel; Jeremiah Imoukhede; and Ituah Sylvester, are billed to testify for the prosecution alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Akimbo Shola and Adamu Balongu, as well as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
The order is coming on the heels of Adeyemi’s outcry that his life was in danger, while debunking the allegation that he was a fugitive running away from the law, saying he would appear in court once he had assurance that he would be protected from those tracking him in attempts to take his life.
A guest of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television, Adeyemi, had told his host on Monday: “I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life,” Adeyemi added.
He also maintained his allegation that he paid N400 million through a proxy to President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Gbajabiamila, to secure his appointment as DG of the disputed council. I’m ready to show my face. I’m not hiding. I’m only fearing for my life because I have it on good authority that my life is in danger. There have been several attempts on my life.”
An interim police investigation report had exposed how the defendant allegedly forged appointment letters and official documents to create the impression that the PFIPC was a legitimate federal government agency.
Police disclosed that the investigation was initiated after the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) on October 17, 2025, over the activities of individuals allegedly forging official appointment letters purportedly issued from the office.
The petition added that preliminary findings showed the forged documents contained falsified signatures, reference numbers, official seals, and the Nigerian Coat of Arms, and that they were allegedly used to appoint individuals into the non-existent PFIPC.
Adeyemi, who was identified as the principal suspect, allegedly presented himself as the DG of the council and operated from an office within the Federal Secretariat Complex, Phase III, Abuja.
One of those allegedly linked to the fraud, Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, was said to have died in a fire incident at a hotel in Abuja.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Meanwhile, Adeyemi, who has since denied that the PFIPC was non-existent, demanded an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion budget insertion for the Council in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
In an open letter to President Tinubu, Adeyemi said he was prepared to provide documentary evidence and fully cooperate with investigators once an independent panel was constituted.
He recommended the inclusion of representatives of civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), independent media organisations, international financial institutions, human rights groups, and diplomatic missions, as well as the ICPC and the EFCC, on the independent investigative panel.
Abdulrahman Bello, must die for the murder, Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin, the Court of Appeal has insisted, rebuffing the attempt of the self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, to upturn the verdict of an Ilorin High Court.
Affirming the earlier death sentence imposed on cleric for the murder of the female student, said to be his lover, on February 10, 2025, at the Olunlade area of Ilorin, which attracted widespread public outrage across Kwara State and beyond, the appellate court said it found no reason to upturn the earlier verdict of the lower court.
Bello, who was one of the five people arraigned on charges bordering on conspiracy, murder, unlawful removal and possession of human parts and blood, also faced a rape charge, of which he was eventually acquitted by the trial court.
Justice Gabriel Omoniyi Kolawole, who led a three-man panel of the appellate court, while dismissing his appeal, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that he murdered the victim and was unlawfully in possession of human parts.
The appellate court consequently upheld the judgment of the Kwara State High Court, which sentenced Bello to death by hanging and imposed an additional 10-year jail term over his conviction for unlawful possession of human parts.
The court held that there was no merit in the appeal and consequently affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
According to the appellate court, the trial court properly evaluated the evidence before it and rightly concluded that the prosecution established the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
The appellate court said it believed the position of Ibrahim Sulyman, Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Issa Zakari, Chief State Counsel, and B.L. Abdulsalam, Assistant Chief State Counsel, who led the prosecution.
Hailing the judgment as another significant milestone in the state’s criminal justice administration, Sulyman, said in a statement: “The judgment underscores the commitment of the Kwara State Ministry of Justice and the judiciary to ensuring that criminal cases are determined strictly in accordance with the law and the evidence presented before the courts.
“It also reaffirms the principle that persons found guilty of grave offences, after a fair trial, will be held accountable under the law. The appellate court’s decision would strengthen public confidence in the justice system.
“The affirmation of the conviction and sentence represents another milestone in the administration of criminal justice and reinforces public confidence in the rule of law and the appellate process. The convict still retains any further rights of appeal available to him under the Constitution and other applicable laws.
Justice Hannah Ajayi of the Kwara State High Court, sitting at Ilorin, hand on July 2025 sentenced Bello to death after finding him guilty of murdering and dismembering Lawal, after describing his act as “the highest degree of human wickedness, and a premeditated and cold-blooded act.”
Dismissing Bello’s claims that he loved the deceased and intended to marry her as merely an afterthought designed to deceive the court, Ajayi, also ruled the convict’s conduct after committing the crime and before his arrest suggested that it might not have been his first involvement in such an act, while a book on money-making charms recovered from his apartment further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Justice Ajayi further held that the video and written confessional statements obtained by operatives of the Department of State Services and the police were lawfully admitted in evidence, dismissing Bello’s allegation that he was tortured into making the confessions.
While acquitting Bello of the rape charge, the trial court convicted him of murder and unlawful possession of human parts, sentencing him to death by hanging for the murder and imposing a 10-year prison term, with an option of a N100,000 fine, for the human parts offence.
The court also discharged and acquitted the four other defendants in the case — Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhydeen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahman Jamiu — after holding that the prosecution failed to establish their involvement in the offences.
Reacting to the High Court judgment at the time, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, described the killing as tragic and commended the judiciary for ensuring justice.
“The gruesome murder of Hafsoh Yetunde Lawal was pathetic, unfortunate, regrettable and worrisome,” the monarch said in a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Abdulazeez Arowona.
“The judgment has further brightened the hope and trust of the people in the judiciary and security agencies. May Almighty Allah repose the soul of the late Hafsoh Lawal and comfort her family members.”
The monarch also urged parents and guardians to be vigilant and closely monitor the activities and movements of their children and wards to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
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