Columns

Awo, Kanu, IPOB, NADECO: Nigeria, today like yesterday!

Published

6 months ago

December 6, 2025

Compatriots, come, let’s reason together. Is there anything that is happening now in Nigeria that has not happened before? Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” Alphonse Karr, the French writer and Journalist, wrote in 1849, more than 176 years ago. Today that great saying – the more things seem to change, the more they remain same – has remained true and unchanged.

I just picked my history book and looked into the trial of Obafemi Awolowo in 1963. As I replay the scenario in my mind’s eyes, I could see the same images appearing and disappearing like a montage before my very eyes. I could see Awo standing before Justice Sodeinde Sowemimo trying to convince the jurist why he should let him and the other 26 with whom he was charged in the historic treason trial, to go home because they were not guilty as charged.

Picture Awo, an accomplished lawyer and leader of the Yoruba people in that courtroom. Did you see anything different with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before Justice James Omotosho, on November 20, 2025, some 62 years after?

O yes! Both the characteristics of the two cases and the personalities involved are certainly different. But certainly not the endgame. While Awo a politician was blamed for setting off the Agbekoya uprising – the wild, wild West, Kanu a freedom fighter, was convicted for sponsoring the Unknown Gunmen (UGM) that supposedly created the – The Bloody East. Like Awo, Kanu opted to defend himself.

They both shared the same fate – long prison terms. The similarities didn’t stop there. Awo, was meant to be sent to a prison in the North, but the late Nnamdi Azikiwe – Zik of Africa, then ceremonial President, was said to have intervened and stopped it. Hence, he ended up in the Calabar Prison. But in MNK, there was no Zik to influence his case. His traducers were fully in charge – Yoruba President – Yoruba Attorney General – Yoruba prosecutor – with tribal marks to boot – then Yoruba judge – so, he ended up in the North – Sokoto.

Like IPOB, like NADECO, like them all!

On June 11, 1994, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, made the Ekpetedo Declaration, pronouncing himself President. His arrest, detention and subsequent trial for treason by the late military despot, Sani Abacha, arguably the most brutal military leader in Nigeria’s history sparked off global outcry.

The world remonstrated. Local and global leaders not only protested and denounced; they also pleaded. Institutions too – local and global – countries and government organisations – they all reacted in different ways – some even imposing sanctions. But Abacha remained unmoved. In his blindness, he practically played God.

Even the Pope – Pope John Paul, reputed for commanding global respect and having the ears of the world, came begging. But not Abacha. He wanted one thing – a broken Abiola, not only denouncing his mandate, but crawling on his knees or lying flat on his bellies in remorseful supplication. It never came. And Abacha never gave in even when Nigeria practically became a global pariah nation.

As the voice of Omotosho, reverberated in the courtroom blaming Kanu for virtually all the killings in the South East in the last 10 years or so – the same line toed by all the security agencies – particularly the police and the Department of State Services – DSS, the memories of Abacha came flooding back. His voice rang like the echoes of the Abacha men in a replay of the soundbites that howled – NADECO!

Those voices never ceased until the table turned. They trumpeted the official government mantra that concerned the National Democratic Coalition, the group Abacha saw as his arch enemy, as a terrorist group. But all the body did was demanding the restoration of Abiola’s mandate and an end to his evil government. Yet!

It took the death of the merciless despot to hear from the likes of Sergeant Rogers, the man who actually pulled the trigger on behalf of the government, the truth. It took his exit from the scene to change the official narrative that the bombs that went off in Lagos and Abuja, and many of the security breaches, were not the handiwork of NADECO chieftains, but Abacha’s agents.

The reason was not farfetched. It was a gambit to hang something on the neck of those Abacha thought were his nemesis and whom he wanted out of circulation for him to hang on to power. He succeeded. Many of the NADECO men were nowhere near Nigeria thereafter. Many had scampered to foreign embassies to escape into exile. Those who couldn’t, had to make it through the bushes to cheat apparent and sure death.

That Bola Ahmed Tinubu, later became a political powerhouse that saw him as Governor of Lagos State and now President of Nigeria, is because the table turned against Abacha. Otherwise, he and his NADECO cohorts would have still been holed up as refugees in foreign countries, having been designated as terrorists.

MNK was not so lucky. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former President, wasn’t a man to give up. He went for the kill. Now, has anyone noticed that since 2017 when he designated IPOB a terrorist organisation, no other government outside Nigeria has adopted the position? Has any foreign government hailed Omotosho even after designating MNK as an international terrorist? Quite instructive!

Again, how come that in the entire South East where IPOB supposedly carried out this blitzkrieg that killed 30,000 Ndigbo according to Orji Uzor Kalu, and destroyed billions of naira worth of businesses, nobody has rolled out the drums to celebrate the almost fatal fate of the man who wrought this havoc on the people.
Why is it that the ululations and cannon shots are heard from the homes of outsiders – mostly the households of APC members in Lagos? Is it not, like in the case of Awo in the hands of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), all about the biblical hands of Esau and voice of Jacob?

Like Awo in the hands of Sowemimo and Abiola in the hands of Abacha, Kanu’s fate is not only about the cockroach searching for justice in the court presided over by lizards, it is about the lion not telling its story about the hunt after the hunter had prevailed.
For us Nigerians – if we could only learn by history – if only we could see that it is the same storyline, much from an old cinema reel – if only we could instill in the society, a culture embedded in justice equity and fair-play – if only we could build a nation where no man is oppressed.

Then we must await another Awo, another Abiola, another Kanu, where treachery, subterfuge, half-truths and outright propaganda are not only sustained, but a heap of official lies, forced down the throat of citizens like bitter cocktails. For no nation built on a quicksand of deceit lives! We wait!

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – The more things seem to change, the more they remain the same! _ The Tiny Voice!

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Columns

Atiku-Amaechi tag-team: An indication of ADC’s hideous plan for Obi

Published

6 days ago

May 31, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Have you been watching the drama happening in ADC? I have, and I have been thoroughly amused doing so. Have you been following the television appearances of Rotimi Amaechi recently? Did you see how the former Governor of Rivers State had been vibrating, assuring of his victory at the party’s presidential primaries?

Did you hear him boasting how he was going to vanquish Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and now the presidential candidate of the party, indicating that ADC members would prefer him over the seventh-time election-contesting Nigerian record holder, because of his (Amaechi’s) records?

Did you see the vehemence with which he warned that television host, to “stop that nonsense,” for suggesting that he could end up as the VP candidate to the same Atiku? Did you see how he rolled his bulging eyes and how angry he sounded?

Did you read the statement of the former Minister of Transportation, rejecting the outcome of the ADC presidential primaries, even before it was finally announced on Wednesday.

Now, pan the camera to the Abuja home of the same Amaechi – by the way – I could swear the ambiance could compete with the palace of the Sultan of Brunei – how did he do it – but how could I forget his wife is a money-minting machine!

Did you see the selfsame man with Atiku? Did you notice the difference? Did you notice the robustness, the comicalness? Did you watch the chumminess and the camaraderie? What meaning did you read into it? You actually have to be an initiate to correctly read everything perfectly.

Just wait for a few days to hear the announcement. I won’t be the one to tell you that the huffing and puffing, the air-punching and the table-banging is all for one thing – the VP position.

For those who had advocated that Obi stayed back and contested with Atiku, it would have been a fatal gambit. He would have come a distant third in the contest, competing with Mohammed Hayatu-Deen. Not because it will be so by the desires of the members, but the goons, wanted it so and would have made it so.

Even the position of the VP which hitherto had been bandied as his for the asking, would have eluded him. Amaechi was there to pick it up.

You heard Dele Momodu an accomplice in that plot telling you that Amaechi was more experienced than Obi in that interview with Charles Aniagolu on ARISE NEWS Television’s Prime Time.

It was all figured out. If Peter Obi had fallen to the plot he would have been the greatest political mugu of the century. He would have rubbished the rock-strong foundation on which his profile was built and stands today – as businessman and politician.

Indeed the plot appeared skewed towards not only making him wave goodbye to politics forever, but caast a huge slur on his exhilarating credentials that account to his being celebrated as one of the most successful Nigerian business tycoons today.

Only a few seconds and the trap would have snapped. Had he waited a few days more in that ADC environment, it would have been over. He would have been trapped in the odd situation of point of no return.

By now he would have become an object of mockery and an item of sport for his enemies. Tons of them would be having a bellyful of laughter over his ordeal by now – had he wasted a second more.

But having that laugh would mean that the eagle has lost its lustre. Obi isn’t Obi just by name. Now, here is the Obi they wanted to trick into a trap. Still in his early 20s, he drove three cars he bought with his own money before graduating from the university.

First year – a Volkswagen Beetle (today’s Venza) – second year a Peugeot 505 (today’s Prado) – third year – a BMW (Today’s Maybach). Now think of yourself as a student then. Think of your children that are students today. That would bring you closer to the persona in question.

It didn’t end there. Still as an undergraduate, he owned the supermarket on campus. There was more. He built residential houses and became a landlord to students and locals in the university community – one of them, said to be Abubakar Sa’ad, the current Sultan of Sokoto, who was then a military officer.

De hear o! This same Obi, was among the 1,000-ONLY, UK customers the American Express Bank gave their Platinum Cards. You know what that means. In the whole of the UK – including oyibo people of all nationalities doing business.

Before his 33rd birthday, this Obi, had become Chairman of a commercial bank and director of other blue-chip companies. At the same age when his colleagues still clutch files in their armpits in pursuit of jobs, he was already heading a conglomerate of firms dealing with supplies and distribution of goods.

So, add all these up! Imagine the number of intriguing situations he must have dealt with in this long journey. Imagine the boardroom politics. Imaging the various business tricks he must have survived.
In politics, this same Obi practically cut off the head of the political monster prowling Anambra for years.

Before his arrival, the whole of the state was one huge conflagration and cataclysm. Elements sponsored by patrons of evil had razing down structures including the Government House of governor’s residence. Anambra was all chaos – a huge bedlam!

But all these Obi faced and conquered, arresting the tempest, quietening the tide and smoothening the waves – not without battles – there was a deluge of them – but with willpower, wisdom, tenacity, consistency, and above all – courage.

He battled the electoral heist that stole his original mandate, won, then impeachment, triumphed, then abrupt tenure termination, challenged it and returned to power – battled entrenched interests in the labour unions – teachers, doctors, workers – et al – prevailed and handed down a new Anambra sitting on the foundation of sobriety and good behaviour.

Now this was the man they wanted to trick. Obi’s case would have been that of the late John Chukwu, the hero in the tragicomedy, Isubru Ekperi – described as the crab which swam across the mighty ocean, but fell in the woman’s pot of soup.

Had Obi, stayed in ADC to contest against Atiku, his fate would have mimicked Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, whom for fear of being thought weak, destroyed his own destiny by killing Ikemefuna and ended up committing suicide! But providence was on his side;

Thankfully, he did not. And today, NDC provides a new horizon. Nigerians are being provided the opportunity of a new country, that could rise from the ashes of the old order – a clean break from the past – a new hope of awakening the sleeping giant!

The Tiny Voice!

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Columns

Jonathan 2027: Between honour of national duty and shame of self-interest

Published

1 week ago

May 28, 2026

Whirlwindnews

By Sunny Igboanugo

On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s 14th leader and the fourth elected President was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on a visit to President Bola Tinubu. Nobody knew the content of that visit because discussions were conducted closed doors.

However, knowing Tinubu, would anything concerning him ever be free of politics, especially given the nuances of the season? Would the snake ever give birth to a creature that is short?

Naturally, as it is wont with Nigeria where one event takes over from the other in quick successions, the Jonathan visit, naturally disappeared – buried inside the reservoir of public consciousness.

But then, things have begun to unfold that people are not only now returning to that April visit, but are taking notes as well as connecting the dots.

Nothing yet seems definite, except in the realm of the popular local saying that when a witch cries at night and the baby dies in the morning, the people know where to look.

Indeed, the droppings of the caterpillar on the ground is making people look up to the tree to see if they are actually eating the green leaves on them. Naturally, events around the 14th President, do not look ordinary – at least not that ordinary to escape more than a scant public scrutiny.

So, when on Thursday May 7, 2026 youths stormed the Abuja office of the ex-President urging him to run for the office he left in 2015, after his historic defeat by Muhammadu Buhari, it elicited a deeper interest from the previous attempts. Yes! It wasn’t the first time Nigerians would be making the pitch. Several groups had tried in the past, even as far back as the 2023 elections.

So, the attempt three weeks ago, was not new. But, this time, eyebrows were raised all the same because it seemed to conduce more intriguing interpretations. Therefore, instead of mere passing interests, Nigerians are now interrogating deeply, putting two and two together.

How much did the former President know about that visit? Did those youths ambush him or was he in the know that such a visit would take place? Was it what is known here as an arrangee – a well-crafted political facade?

Then came the angle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). A long time ago, when speculations were rife that Peter Obi, was being courted by the former ruling party to return and run for the 2027 presidential election on its platform, Jerry Gana, a stalwart of the party had served notice that they even had a more seducing and deliverable option. It turned out to be Jonathan.

So, long before the Nyesom Wike devastating blow on the party that has kept it in its prostrate state, Jonathan had been on the cards as the number one option for the party. Therefore, it follows that the current steps the party is taking to draft him in, to run as its candidate in the election, is normal. But is it?

The argument in PDP quarters for the Jonathan choice is because he is the only one constitutionally barred from contesting a second term, he is the most fitted to satisfy all shades of political interests in Nigeria today, especially the North eager to return to power. Quite scintillating.

But seducing as this appears, there is a hugely compelling argument against the move. A groundswell of analysts swear that the ex-President is being pushed into the ring as an instrument to stop Peter Obi, the current moving train threatening to crush the ambition of Tinubu to remain in office beyond 2027. In other words, the sole reason is to play the spoiler role.

Supposing this is the reason. Then what is before us is more fatal than critical. This is the same Jonathan whose singular act of calling Buhari that morning on March 31, 2015 to concede defeat, suddenly catapulted him to a global democratic icon – the same that hops into presidential planes to other countries in Africa to straighten crooked democratic roads.

Now, would the same Jonathan swear with his church mind that Tinubu’s model of democracy is what he would prescribe even for an enemy country, let alone Nigeria? What aspect of the country has Tinubu not damaged. So, what would make him a Tinubu’s ally in the further destruction of Nigeria, if he truly loves the country?

This was the same Jonathan who swore that his ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian. Is he not aware that the land on which he’s standing is already soaked with the blood of the same citizens by the sheer butchery that is happening daily in the country under the nose of the most underwhelming President yet? Isn’t this the issue now?

Indeed, not a few people have argued that Jonathan should be in the forefront of the Obi project. For one, Obi was once his appointee apart from being a sworn ally. So, he would be in a position to ascertain his true qualities first hand and confirm that he’s the only one among the lot that could fix the country. Even an imbecile knows that Obi would create the clean break from the past that Nigeria needs today to build the future everyone desires.

Besides, he Jonathan, if anything is substantially part of the reason the South East is in its current state at the moment, the level of support the area gave him throughout his tenure is part of the reason the late Buhari increased his hatred for the Igbo a million times more – a phenomenon he transferred through the APC to Tinubu – and which the current President has been unable to extricate himself from.

Okay, is the former President not aware that the position Tinubu is sitting on today belongs to the South East – the zone that took him like one of them that they even gave him an Igbo name – Ebele. If everyone else shortchanges Ndigbo, would he also join, given the foregoing? What manner of ingratitude would that be?

O yes! He has had his Villa meeting. PDP has adopted him as their candidate. Even the legal barrier that would have stopped him, was cleared on Monday when Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, handed him the all-clear sign. He has told the world that he is consulting. While at it, hopefully, more people would tell him the home truth.

Fortunately, he was the one who said it is easy to wake someone that is actually asleep than someone pretending to be asleep. Regrettably, by his silence since the obscene drama began, it appears he prefers the latter. Therefore, his action would not derive from ignorance.

If he finally bites at the apple, it wouldn’t be because he didn’t know how much Tinubu has messed up Nigeria and the implication of reinforcing him with another four years.

His complicity wouldn’t mean that he doesn’t know what to do to reverse the trend. It would only mean that personal interest has taken the better part of him and not the love of the country.

If he deliberately makes that choice, with both eyes open, then he’s welcome in the hall of infamy rather than honour. Fortunately, there is still a window to prove that the foregoing was a mere political nightmare and not reality. But otherwise, it would be apposite for Nigerians to say in unison – GOODLUCK?

My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!

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Columns

See Tinubu’s terrible damage on Option A4 and its precious memories

Published

2 weeks ago

May 26, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Option A4, occupies a central place in Nigeria’s democratic development. That unique election model developed and introduced in the Nigerian electoral process by Humphrey Nwosu, the late Professor of Political Science, has become a symbol mounted on a standard and raised high above the sky.

It is Nigeria’s mimic of that biblical golden serpent to which both the nation and its citizens look up at and derive instant succour – much like a balm to their heavily-lacerated democratic soul – a wonder device, that once mesmerised the world.

Yes! Anytime Nigerians want to serenade their democratic spirit with the allure of sweetness, they take a recourse to that unique event that happened more than three decades ago, on June 12, 1993. They reminisce on the purity of the process and beauty of the outcome.

Like the saying that precious things come in simple packages, Option A4, was not only as simple as simplicity itself, but was as powerful as the most impactive dynamite – simple enough to break all barriers of ignorance and powerful enough to destroy all electoral bad behaviours defacing the beautiful perspective of democracy.

Here is the process. Voters converge on a location at approved time, get accredited, queue behind preferred candidates, get counted and the votes recorded in approved result sheets. Finish! No ballot-snatching, no ballot-stuffing, no quarrel, no thuggery, no blood on the floor.

Even the issue of proper voting that lead to void votes is eradicated by the process. The electorates need no education on how to vote properly. The issue of thumb-printing in the wrong space or double-voting is taken care of.

Today, in Nigeria, June 12 is designated as Democracy Day, based on the outcome of that election. It was so seamless and produced such a perfect result that the product – Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola was never challenged on the inviolability, but on the other ideas the military government in power then had.

But did you see the same Option A4 put to test under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu? Did you watch the primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC), at various stages, including the one that produced the President as candidate of the party in the 2027 presidential election? If you did, you would understand where your country is currently and where it is headed.

How could anyone have the mindset to deface such a beauty, let alone design a mechanism to destroy it, given its centrality as the bastion of Nigerian democratic commemorations? How could anyone be so wicked as to destroy the most beautiful Nigerian democratic ornament?

It is like pulling the original of Monalisa or the best of Bini Bronze from their protective encasements and smashing them on the floor. It takes a mindset that has scant regard for beauty – a destructive spirit to do so.

But see how easily they did it! See how simple it was for them. It was as easy as jumping from 10 to 1,000 in a simple counting process a primary school child could do.

Did you see the smiles on their faces to indicate how much fun they had supervising the putrid, outlandish and parlous construct – like the lurid expression of a rapist seeking to satiate his lust? Clearly, it did not matter to them the danger they’re putting themselves and future generations – comprising their children and grandchildren, Tragedy!

But what is it that Tinubu and his co-travellers have not destroyed since happening on Nigeria? What pain have they not wrought on the polity? Is it the economy? Think of those rich Nigerians alighting from their fancy cars and jumping into the Lagos Lagoon.

Is it security? Reminisce on the last moments of General Sani Uba, as he watched the approach of the terrorists while crouching on his knees in the forest, having lost the vain hope that his country would save him.

Think of the Oyo school teacher in that final moment as he waited for the impact of that sharp knife on his bare throat, while being slaughtered like a goat at the abattoir. Think of Zamfara, think of Sokoto, think of Kwara, think of Anambra – add to the list – think Nigeria.

Yet, the APC foot-soldiers – including a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives – a leader in the legislature – the most important institution of democracy – clowned, jested and had fun.

For them, the rest of the country doesn’t matter. All that matters is Tinubu’s happiness. And the master-strategist, the democratic doyen, the June 12-NADECO icon, was all and about, grinning from ear to ear and lapping everything up.

With economy destroyed from day-one with the impulsive, brainwave – subsidy is gone declaration – with security in tatters that school children, now scurry and scamper in different directions like scared rodents, at the slightest sight of strange faces for fear of being the next kidnap victims – with the national fibric almost giving way from the consistent and unrelenting pressure in running the most nepotistic administration – far worse than the days of the late Muhammadu Buhari, thought to be the worst at a time – what else remains of Nigeria?

Before now, I had grieved that Tinubu deliberately left out Humphery Nwosu in that outlandish June 12 struggle honourees list, when he ought to be the numero uno. I had hoped however that someday, someone more amenable than Tinubu would do the needful. But what hope is there now that Tinubu and his men are tightening the noose on Nigerian democracy? Now this!

The worst part is not that the APC goons committed this heinous atrocity, but in the manner they did. They enjoyed the process. Only mindless characters such as mafia kingpins we watch in movies, take pleasure in inflicting pains. That we now watch such playing out in real life is not only disturbing, it is THE TRAGEDY!

My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!

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