Politics
Botched Chibok Trip: Riding In The Storm
“Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creature of men
-Benjamin Disraeli
Until April 14, 2014,
Chibok, a subsurb community of about 90 kilometres from Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital, was perhaps not known by many people outside the state capital or better still the North East geo-political zone of the country.
But the unfortunate incident of April 14 rather opened another window in the history of Chibok, where a government secondary school is sited. Like the history of many communities, the unfortunately circumstance that played out in Chibok and eventually lifted the Borno community to what many called a national embarrassment or a slap on the nation’s security, was better imagined than experienced.
No fewer than 200 girls of the secondary school were abducted by Islamic militants of Boko Haram sect; a situation which Borno State governor described as, “a dark era in the history of insurgency in the state.”
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states are under emergency rule as a result of terrorist attacks that have claimed many lives. Though, the actual number of the girls in the den of the abductors is still not certain, days and weeks came by, but there was no report where the girls were camped. This perhaps heightened the fear that all may not be well with the abducted girls, more so with unconfirmed reports that they were allegedly being raped, abused and enslaved by Boko Haram gunmen.
Just as the security personnel continued to comb the forest for the abducted girls without success, parents and well-meaning Nigerians, most of whom went into fasting for divine intervention, demanded for the release of the female students. The nationwide protests by labour and civil society groups added a new dimension to the unfortunate incident, coming on the heels of the arrival of foreign anti-terrorism experts to assist in the ongoing search and rescue of the abducted Chibok girls.
United States of America (USA), which had earlier predicted the disintegration of Nigeria by 2015, saw the Boko Haram terrorists attacks as an opportunity to act the Big Brother role of protecting Nigeria from terrorist insurgency. Britain, Israel and few other nations reportedly offered their counter-terrorism experts to carry out the surgical operations of the cancerous growth at the neck of our dear country; a price, which is still shrouded in secrecy.
There was optimism in many quarters that with the international community deploying its considerable military and intelligence-gathering skills and assets in support of Nigeria’s efforts at fighting terrorism, success was in sight. But as weeks went by with no hope of the abducted girls being released, hopelessness and betrayal became the mood of most Nigerians with several accusations of the Presidency being incapable of steering the ship of the nation.
As the riddle of the Chibok girls abduction remains unsolved, Nigerians woke up to the claims and counter-claims about President Jonathan’s aborted trip to Chibok, apparently designed to reinforce confidence on Nigerians on his administration’s ability and capacity to fight Boko Haram insurgency to a stand still.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) took the President and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the cleaners and the latter replied not without casting aspersions on the former’s alleged plan to pull down the President or discredit his actions and programmes.
APC, yearning for change in the political landscape of the country, believed that Jonathan’s aborted visit to Chibok betrayed Nigerians who voted him into office. In a statement in Lagos, APC Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, accused Jonathan of bungling the fight against the sect as well as exhibited cluelessness in handling the abduction of the school girls.
As if that was not strong enough to pull the carpet off the feet of Jonathan, APC added that the President’s action, “deepened the pains of the parents and guardians of the girls and indeed that of the whole nation, when he should have been the consoler-in-chief at such a difficult time for a nation he leads.”
Side by side with that discredit, APC noted that Jonathan threw away to the winds the chance of redeeming the battered global image of his administration in handling the abduction of the school girls.
APC’s reaction to Jonathan’s alleged aborted Chibok visit, no doubt, suggests that the President, who is afraid to visit a crisis zone, cannot lay claim to being a Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Importantly, APC’s presentation of garment of shame on the Jonathan administration is not ignorant of the fact that its supporters are likely to decode such message with partisan lens and operationalise their stand for a change in Nigeria.
But the ruling PDP refused to be taken to the gallows as a sacrificial lamb. Jonathan’s spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, discountanced the report that Jonathan refused or cancelled the visit to Chibok.
According to him, there was no plan on the itinerary of the President to visit Chibok even when it was widely reported that the president’s advanced team had landed in Borno State.
Wondering how the Press may have carried the report of the president’s visit to Chibok, Abati believed that it might be the handiwork of mischief makers.
If Reuben Abati was economical with his defence and explanation, Special Adviser on Media to the Rivers State PDP Chairman, Jerry Needam, was not. He took the prosecutor’s bread back to the prosecutor. In an attempt to unmask what he called “APC’s self righteousness and political glory,” Needam said the opposition party’s action was only intended to nail PDP and the President to the wall for the populace to see.
“We know the stock in trade of APC. We are not unaware that APC is all out to pull the President down or discredit his actions”, “Needam said.
According to him, APC cannot justify what he called the “noise” it was making about the Chibok girls side by side the fact that both the Borno State Governor (Shettima) and the government are of APC stock. “Who is fooling who?,” he asked.
Rather than shift the goal post, Needam said Shettima and APC have the moral burden to tell Nigerians what happened at Chibok especially against the backdrop that the Borno State governor reportedly directed the students to sit their WAEC examination at Chibok against security advice of the examination body and the Federal Ministry of Education.
It may not be a matter of who is right or wrong in the alleged aborted Chibok visit by Mr President, if Nigerians realise that in security matters, one plus one is not usually two.
While the botched Chibok visit rides in the storm, Nigerians are unanimous that the abduction of the Chibok girls should be devoid of politics, and if we must play politics, it must be done objectively.
Surely, the last may not have been heard about the abduction of the Chibok girls, but making a mincemeat out of it amounts to a show of shame for Nigeria and Nigerians when the citizens should be united irrespective of party affiliation in the war to free the nation from the clutches of terrorists.
Samuel Eleonu
Abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has renamed The Polytechnic, Ibadan as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan, in honour of a late former governor of the State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo.
Dr Olunloyo, who died on April 6, 2025, was the pioneer Principal of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, while he also served as Governor of Oyo State between October 1 and December 31, 1983.
Governor Makinde made the announcement at the state interdenominational funeral service held yesterday in honour of the late former governor at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Liberty Road, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde said Dr Olunloyo lived an eventful life, adding that his attainment and personality could not be summarised in one sentence.
“He was not a man we could summarise in one sentence. He was a scholar, a statesman, a technocrat, a lover of culture and, above all, a man of deep conviction.
“While giving the exhortation, I was listening to Baba Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu and he said in 1983, Baba became Governor of Oyo State. Though his time in office was brief, his election victory over a popular incumbent remains a powerful testament to the trust people gave him.
“I talked about preserving and digitising his library yesterday [Wednesday] as a mark of honour to Baba Olunloyo.
“Today, we will be giving Baba another honour to immortalise him. He was the first Principal of The Polytechnic, Ibadan; that institution will now be named Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan.”
Earlier in his sermon, a retired Methodist Archbishop of Ilesa and Ibadan, Ayo Ladigbolu, described the late Olunloyo as a role model with intellectual inspiration and unassailable integrity.
The cleric said the deceased also demonstrated leadership in most superior quality during his lifetime.
In attendance were the state Deputy Governor, Chief Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal; wife of a former Military Governor of the old Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Dupe Jemibewon; wife of a former Governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Mutiat Ladoja; former Deputy Governor and PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; and former Deputy Governor, Hazeem Gbolarumi.
Others were the member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, Hon Abass Adigun Agboworin; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; Oyo State Exco members; Chairman of Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr Saka Balogun; Chairman of All Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State, Hon Sikiru Sanda; President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Adeniyi Ajewole; religious leaders and family members, among other dignitaries.
Ten members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) have countered the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, on the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary.
The dissenting members, led by the Deputy National Chairman ( South), Taofeek Arapaja, in a joint statement, said no organ of the opposition party could overturn the decision of the 99th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The dissenting NWC members include Arapaja; Setonji Koshoedo, Deputy National Secretary; Okechukwu Obiechina-Daniel, National Auditor; Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary; Ologunagba; Woyengikuro Daniel, National Financial Secretary and Ahmed Yayari Mohammed, National Treasurer.
Others are Chief Ali Odefa, National Vice Chairman (South East); Emmanuel Ogidi, Caretaker Committee Chairman (South South); Mrs. Amina Darasimi D. Bryhm, National Woman Leader and Ajisafe Kamoru Toyese, National Vice Chairman (South West).
The group also insisted that contrary to the position of the acting National Chairman, the 100th NEC meeting of the party would be held on June 30 as earlier scheduled.
The statement read: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press briefing by the acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, today Wednesday, June 25, wherein he attempted to overturn the resolution of the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which scheduled the 100th NEC meeting for Monday, June 30.
“The acting National Chairman in the said press briefing also reportedly announced that Senator Samuel Anyanwu has been asked to resume as National Secretary of the party contrary to the resolution of the 99th NEC meeting, which referred all matters relating to the office of the National Secretary to the 100th NEC meeting.
“The pronouncements by the acting National Chairman have no foundation as no organ of the party (including the NWC), individual or group has the power to cancel, overrule, veto or vary the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the party, second only to the National Convention. By virtue of Section 31 (3) of the PDP Constitution, the resolution of the NEC to hold its 100th meeting on Monday June 30, is binding on all organs, officers, chapters and members of the party and no organ, group or individual can vary or veto this resolution of NEC.
“Furthermore, the claim by Damagum that Sen Anyanwu has been asked to resume office as the National Secretary of the party is, therefore, misleading being contrary to the resolution of NEC.
“In the light of the foregoing, the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled for Monday, June 30, has not been canceled or postponed.”
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has fired back at former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following the latter’s scathing criticism of President Tinubu’s administration and his 2027 re-election prospects.
In an interview on live television, Mallam El-Rufai said it would take a “miracle” for President Tinubu to be re-elected in 2027, citing an internal poll that purportedly shows a 91 percent disapproval rating for the president across key regions in the country, including the South-East and the North. He also claimed that President Tinubu’s disapproval rating in Lagos stood at 78 percent.
Reacting on Wednesday via a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Onanuga took a swipe at the ex-governor, quoting a harsh assessment of Mallam El-Rufai’s character from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological,” Mr Onanuga wrote, citing Chief Obasanjo’s words. “Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai.”
The presidential adviser emphasised Chief Obasanjo’s remarks that Mallam El-Rufai often tries to elevate himself by diminishing others. “He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends,” Mr Onanuga continued, quoting the former President. “I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.”
Chief Obasanjo, who appointed Mallam El-Rufai as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory between 2003 and 2007, did not mince words in the memoir, describing Mallam El-Rufai as suffering from “small man syndrome.”
Mr Onanuga’s post is seen as a direct rebuttal to Mallam El-Rufai’s recent criticism and growing opposition role. The former governor is reportedly playing a central role in forming a new coalition to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
In March 2025, El-Rufai officially dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), intensifying speculations about his 2027 political ambitions.
As the political rift deepens, Mallam El-Rufai remains one of the most vocal critics of the Tinubu administration, while Mr Onanuga and other presidential allies continue to push back against what they describe as “reckless” opposition rhetoric.
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