Editorial
Insurgency: Beyond Ogwuchi’s Extradiction
The successful extradition by Sudanese
authorities, of Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche,
the main mastermind allegedly responsible for the Nyanya bombing that claimed several live’s, to say the least, a cheering news and a pleasant relief to security institutions and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians and foreigners.
Indeed, Ogwuche’s extradition, which followed intense diplomatic overtures from Nigeiran government, opens yet another window of hope in the campaign against terror and insurgency in Nigeria. Such trans-national collaboration within the international community will definitely, go a long way in checking crimes against humanity, no matter where such crimes were committed.
Clearly, terrorism constitutes a clear and present danger, not only to Nigeria’s stability, but also to regional cohesion, global peace and development, which is why the new sense of co-operation and collaboration among nations are indeed commendable. Thousands of lives and properties worth billions of Naira had perished since Boko Haram’s onslaught on Nigerian soil and without such multi-national understanding there is no telling how worse the situation could yet.
This is why we commend the Nigeria Police Interpol unit for the successful repatriation of the terror fugitive. The successful repatriation means that the global coalition and campaign against terrorism is indeed yielding desired results.
However, The Tide thinks that the Interpol needs to do more, especially in the area of intelligence network on the sponsors and masterminds of Boko Haram. Intelligence gathering is critical.
Similarly, we expect the police and other security operatives to step up their efforts in the area of the trans-boarder operations, as most of the terror gangsters infiltrate Nigeria through neighbouring countries due to our porous boarders.
While we applaud the diplomatic victory in Ogwuche’s repatriation; The Tide believes that it is only a first step towards winning the war against terror in Nigeria.
We implore the federal government to muster and show sufficient political will to obtain as much information from Ogwuche and his co-travelers and prosecute them in as timely a fashion as possible. Infact, the delay in prosecuting many terror suspects is, indeed, worrisome and incomprehensible.
Terror suspects should not be given the opportunity to escape from custody or cause jail breaks as reported in the past. Though, we subscribe to thorough investigations and garnering of concrete evidence before prosecution, we still think that speedy prosecution may also make the difference because as they say justice delayed could amount to justice denied, sometimes.
In the same vein, we recognize that information gathering and management is key and inevitable to addressing the terror campaign, but the offer by foreign governments and the country’s allies to assist in this direction should be fully embraced.
Clearly, such coalition and international collaboration would boost the campaign against terror. Of course, the benefit can be seen and appreciated in the depth of such intelligence and the neutrality such a coalition would exhibit. In such circumstances the effort would spare no one no matter how highly placed, nor make scapegoat of anyone.
The Tide acknowledges the co-operation and understanding exhibited by Sudanese authorities and all the other countries, namely, Britain, France, United States of America (USA), Israel and neighbouring African countries that are playing very critical roles in the anti-terror fight.
With this collaboration, we agree with President Goodluck Jonathan that the war against terror would be over soon and the days of terror gangsters numbered.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
