News

Nigeria May Soon Become Ungovernable, Mailafia Warns

Published

4 years ago

September 8, 2021

The former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadaiah Mailafia, has, again, raised the alarm that the nation was drifting towards a failed state, and may soon become ungovernable to the ruling class, if the drift was unchecked.
Mailafia also accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of pushing for the Islamisation and Fulanisation of the country.
He spoke during a symposium organized by the Forum for Good Governance of the Towards Revival for All Nations (TRANS 21) at the Reconciliation House in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Speaking on the theme, ‘The Role of the Church in Nation Building’, Mailafia, said that Nigeria can no longer be described as a nation due to the fact that concentration of power was not with the government alone but now also in the hands of some other power blocs.
“Nigeria has been designated as a failed state. We may not say it is a failed state but it is certainly exhibiting the features of a failing state in terms of the kind of violence we are seeing, widespread insecurity, and terrorism, the abuse of humanity, criminality, rape, killing, maiming and destruction.
“We are a failing state, and the solution is nothing other than the need to give birth to a new Nigeria.
“Rival groups control territory. Boko Haram is in control of over half of Niger State, and if they successfully take over Niger, Abuja will be a walkover.
“Government cannot provide security for the people. Nowhere is safe in the country. The forests have been taken over by foreign invaders.
“The economy is collapsing. There is the collapse of the institution. Police, university’s standards are low. Corruption has taken over in the country. What else do we need to say Nigeria is a failed state?”
“In the past, people could ignore that because Olusegun Obasanjo was a fair-minded man and he was a patriot. Umaru Yar’Adua of blessed memory was a fair-minded man and a patriot. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was a fair-minded man and he was a patriot.
“So, people could afford to live with a fraudulent constitution but now today, we are seeing that a fraudulent constitution is in the hands of people who have hidden agendas, who hate our country, who are beholders to Niger Republic, Chad and other foreign countries.”
According to him, “Nigeria has fallen from the grace being the most terrorised nation and the poverty capital of the world after India and Afghanistan.
“Nigeria parades about 90million people who are destitute poor with 50 per cent of the figure from the North, particularly the North-East and West geopolitical zones”.
He said Borno, Zamfara and Yobe accounted for 70 per cent of the figure.
With 20million of children out of school and drug abuse of 80 per cent in Kano State alone, Mailafia said that the situation in the North was getting out of hand.
He lamented that “the official unemployment rate in Nigeria is 33 per cent with youth forming 40 per cent of the figure.
On the Islamisation and Fulanisation of the country, Mailafia said that, “the agenda is ongoing; Islamisation and Fulanisaion of Nigeria. The kind of Islam that is coming from Sahara is dangerous. They want to take over your land and enslave you. Christians must rise to protect it”.
He said about “two million Nigerians have been killed silently in Nigeria in the last few years with the government unable to tackle the menace of Fulani herdsmen, terrorists and bandits.
“In the North-East alone, more than 3,000 churches have been destroyed, more than 400 priests and pastors have been killed. And there is a pattern that is reserved only for Christians, and that is beheading.
“Last year, the CAN chairman of Adamawa was beheaded, even after a ransom was paid. We have been told that the so call bandits, who should not be called bandits because bandits do not bring down military aircraft.
“No bandit has the capacity to bring down military aircraft. No bandit has the power to attack Nigeria Defence Academy, which is the premier institution for the training of armed forces.
“No bandit has the capacity to do that, only terrorists have the capacity to do that.
Mailafia said that “We are being told that these terrorists are part of the insurgency because they did these kidnappings to raise money in order to fund the insurgency.”
Speaking on the fall in the exchange rate of the naira, the financial expert said that “the continued dip of the naira in the foreign exchange market was due to the bad policies of government and the tensions across to the country.
“If we continue the bad policies we are doing and all these geopolitical tensions we are tolerating, it is going to affect the value of the naira and the naira will continue to go down and down into a bottomless pit.
According to him, “This is just a law of science and of economics. If we do the right thing, then we can reverse the trend and the naira will start improving. It is not quantum physics; it is straightforward demand and supply, inflation and natural expectation.”
Mailafia also lamented that the country has fallen from grace by being the most terrorised nation and the poverty capital of the world after India and Afghanistan.

News

NELFUND Warns Students Against Fake Loan Portal

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund has alerted the public to a fraudulent message circulating online, claiming that the NELFUND Student Loan Registration Portal is open.

The message directs applicants to a third-party link (http://gvly.xyz/Nelfund-Student-Loan, which NELFUND confirms is unauthorised and fraudulent.

In a post obtained from its X handle, yesterday, NELFUND urged students and the general public not to click on the link or provide any personal information, emphasising that the official loan registration portal is only accessible through the Fund’s verified channels.

The agency reminded applicants to exercise caution online and to report any suspicious links or communications claiming to be from NELFUND.

“Applicants are encouraged to always verify official announcements via NELFUND’s official website and social media channels,” NELFUND said.

This advisory comes as part of NELFUND’s ongoing efforts to safeguard students and ensure the integrity of the student loan application process.

News

Eastern Port Police Boss Promises On Crime-Free Operations

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The new Commissioner of Police Eastern, Ports Command, Mr Tijani Fatai has promised to ensure a crime- free ports operations in the zone.
He said effective policing will be mounted across the ports in the zone in tackling the high rate of community unrest, activities of port rats and other social vices.
Fatai while speaking to newsmen shortly after taking over as the 17th commissioner said he wants to be remembered as a peace maker during his tenure as Commissioner of Police in the Eastern Ports Command.
According to him,’’the community policing is the sure way of addressing most conflicts and other social vices bedeviling our society today and I will explore it to its fullest” .
The Commissioner also assured officers of the rank and file of improved welfare whoch he described as a cardinal objective of the present efforts of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
He said,” the Inspector General of Police has sent me to assure you all of welfare, promotions as and when due,no officers particular rank and file will be left behind in the coming months.
Fatai before his recent posting was an operational officer,who spent most of his years with the Police Mobile Force (PMF) where he served as Unit Commander (UC) and Commander, PMF.
Before his redeployment as a Commissioner of Police,(CP), he was the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, DCP, Operations, Lagos State Command.

News

Kalabaris Celebrate New Year Amid Fanfare

Published

2 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

Thousands of Kalabari indigenes from Akuku- Toru, Asari-Toru, Degema and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas last Sunday gathered at Elem Kalabari in Degema Local Government Area to celebrate what they said is the Kalabari new year amidst pomp and pageantry
According to stakeholders, the event which started over 200 years ago normally falls on the 16th of November every year.
The of this year’s celebration which was organised by Kalabari Renaissance Foundation was “Our Heritage, Honouring Our Waters and Renewing Our Spirit.”
Stakeholders said this year’s celebration was symbolic as it was holding at Elem Kalabari which is the home of the Kalabari people.
The event also featured various masquerade displays from cultural troupes within Kalabari and beyond.
Speaking on the significance of the event, the Amanyanabo of Elem Kalabari (The Source), HRH Mujahid Asari Dokubo, said the celebration signaled a return to the traditional values of the Kalabari people and the need for self-recreation.
“It’s not just about celebration, It’s about recreating ourselves, bringing us back from death.
“The organisation that has come to take over this celebration – Renaissance – really fits the description of what ought to happen to us as a people.
“It’s not just Kalabari; it’s about all of us and our values. We have to look at ourselves and our values,” he said.
Dokubo called on all Kalabari citizens to join hands together to revive their traditional values and heritage in order not to lose their cultural identity and spiritual trajectory.
Also speaking, Harry Awolayeofori MacMorrison, Chief Administrator and Chairman of Kalabari Renaissance Foundation, organizsers of the Kalabari new year festival, said the event marks the beginning of a new calendar year for the Kalabari people, after November 15 of every year when the tide cleanses the pollution from the Sombreiro River inflows, describing it as a renewal of the Kalabari people.
“It’s the renewal of the people. Kalabari area is saline environment and at a time, the Sombreiro River comes in and pollutes the river.
“On the 15th November, across Kalabari, the tide turns and takes all the fresh water that polluted the saline river back to the Sombreiro River
. “On the 15th is the end of the year. Normally when there is an end, there is a new beginning. On the 16th (November) is the beginning of the Kalabari calendar,” he said.
Awolayeofori Mac Morrison said the Kalabari communities had been holding the new year festival separately in the past until the Renaissance Foundation decided to champion a unified celebration to enable them forge a common front of trado-cultural and socio-economic development across the entire territory.
He said last year’s event held at Abalama while they decided to bring this year’s celebration to Elem Kalabari because of it significance to the Kalabari nation.
Also speaking, a member of the planning committee and media lead, Journalist Ibiba Don Pedro, said there was need to reawaken the consciousness of their people on the need to embrace their traditional values without reservations, noting that there was nothing fetish about the festival.
She said the celebration was to unite the Kalabaris as well as project the cultural heritage of the people.
Don Pedro said time has come for Africa to go back to their root , adding that development will continue to elude African countries until the people rediscover themselves.