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Revolution, Solution To Nigeria’s Problems, Says Maitama Sule
Nigeria’s former representative to the United Nation Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule has suggested revolution as the only solution to the nation’s political and economic problems.
Speaking as a guest speaker in Minna Saturday at the launching of N500million appeal fund for resuscitation of the oldest primary school in Niger state, Minna Central Primary School now named after the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, a product of the school, the octogenarian diplomat however called for a bloodless revolution to enable the country find its footings again.
The eloquent elder statesman lamented that the present state of affairs in the country called for a radical change, but cautioned that such change should come through a bloodless revolution for the country to attain its vision 2020.
Sule, who is the Dan Masani Kano, also said that part of the surgical operation that will revive the country and put it on a right pedestal will be for the political class to fashion out a modality for the old and the new breed political players to embrace each other.
Observing that the country had lacked meaningful development in the last 49 years of its existence, the elder statesman blamed it on the inability of the political class to perfect their acts.
According to him “they need the maturity of the old breed politicians just as the old breed politicians need the agility of the new breed to make things work but unfortunately this is not so and the country is suffering for this missing link”.
“Nigeria as a country, we have the people, we have the resources that will make things happen but the problem is with the present crops of political leaders,” he submitted.
To overcome our present challenges, Sule maintained that, “what the country need now is honest leaders and not thieves. We need leaders that have fire in their bellies but with humanity in their hearts, leaders that have the interest of the common man at heart”.
Lamenting the poor state of the country’s education sector, Sule pointed out the poor funding of the sector by successive administrations in the country, stressing that until we learn to accord education its rightful place in our national planning, the country would not catch up with the developed nations of the world.
Citing Ghana, where education attracts higher budgetary allocation, the elder statesman advised that if the country’s elites and the leadership are serious about the development of this country, more attention should be accorded the sector.
He then commended the old pupils of IBB Central Primary School for initiating the appeal fund and advised other well-to-do in the society to emulate the steps of the old pupils of the school, noting that government alone cannot meet all our needs as a nation.
Speaking in the same vein, former Head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar, an old pupil of the school and the chairman of the occasion called on parents to pay more attention to the educational growth of their children and wards, just as he advised all Nigerians to always support the government in the provision of infrastructures, noting that government cannot satisfy the public due to other pressing demands and scarce state resources.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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