IS IT TRUE THAT THE JUNE 12 ELECTION WAS ANNULED BECAUSE MKO WAS SAID TO BE INTO THE DRUG TRADE? IBB NEEDS TO CLEAR THE AIR!

SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI – SPECIAL EDITION!

It was one mid-morning early in 1991 that the NITEL land phone rang at the rented No. 1 Oremeji Street, modest Headquarters of Performing Musicians' Association of Nigeria (PMAN). In 1991, there were no cell phones.

The very busy PMAN headquarters was on the ground floor of one of six identical one - storey buildings in the part of Ikeja, Lagos, now famously known as Computer Village. This was not far from where Fela's African Shrine used to be on Pepple Street. I was handed the phone and told that the caller said he was calling from Dodan Barracks in Ikoyi, then seat of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

When I took the phone, the caller informed me that he was calling on behalf of President Ibrahim Babangida and that the President would like to see me. Wow! We agreed on a date and I assured the caller that I would be there.

Three and half years earlier, I had been elected President of PMAN. I was 29 years old, the youngest member of the large PMAN National Executive Council with members from across the country. I have never learnt to do a job half-heartedly. My attitude to the PMAN job, a job with no income, was a call to a national assignment deserving of all I had to give. I gave it all I had, 24 hours a day.

On the agreed date, I was at Dodan Barracks. I was not a minister or governor and expected to be kept waiting or told that the appointment had been cancelled. Nope! Right on time, I was ushered into the beautiful office of General Ibrahim Babangida, the great IBB, known across the land as Maradona! I had come close to him at a few official events and exchanged pleasantries but never had a one-on-one alone in a room, with him.   

What surprised me was that the man was so smooth and so easy to get on with. There were no airs about him and none of the crudity or brashness most people associate with soldiers. We exchanged banter and I even queried some of his policies. He appeared not to take any offence and explained some of the choices he had to make.

The President had clearly followed my activities very closely and in details. He expressed admiration for my passion and commitment to the work I was doing and encouraged me not to relent. He said that he had received my letter inviting him to be Special Guest of Honour at the big Nigerian Music Awards (NMA), the nation's biggest entertainment event, scheduled for the National Theatre Lagos in about a week. According to him, he had planned to personally attend the event, but it was suddenly brought to his attention that there was an important military event at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji in Kaduna State holding on the same date at which, as Commander-in-Chief, he was expected to preside. He told me that in his position, it would be politically inappropriate for him to forego the event of his immediate constituency to be seen on national TV enjoying himself at the NMA. He said that he did not want to send me an apology and had invited me to personally explain his difficulty and talk with me on how best to address the situation.

I felt honoured by his thoughtfulness and said so. We agreed that he would send his most senior officer in the Army, at the time, Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Sani Abacha, to represent him at the 1991 NMA.  At the 1990 event, the President had been represented by his Vice, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu. We also agreed that he would host a reception for the award recipients at State House Marina, a few days after the event.  General Babangida kept every promise he made to me.   

I had the chance of a few one-on-one with IBB in his office at Aso Rock, Abuja when the government finally moved to Abuja. Of course, IBB honoured me with his impactful presence, that of Maryam, his beautiful wife and much of the movers and shakers of the government on March 9, 1992 at the unforgettable NMA held at the Hilton in Abuja for which I will ever remain grateful.

Through the joint interventions of his Minister of Information & Culture, Prince Tony Momoh and then Attorney – General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola, both of whom had become my allies, President Babangida had  promulgated the Nigerian Copyright law and approved the setting up of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, two issues about which I had mounted unrelenting campaigns and sent the President several letters and which I strongly believe have aided to unlock Nigeria's creative endeavors.

I know that most people who get a chance to see the President go with a laundry list of personal favours they seek - jobs, contracts, land, oil wells, etc, etc. Despite my modest means, in my several meetings with IBB, I refused to ask for any personal favour and obtained none, not one "shi-shi"!  It was my conviction that any personal take-aways would deny me the freedom to be critical of any step the government took that I was opposed to. My concentration was on the creative industry and how to position it for national development. To his credit, the President never asked me for anything except to do my job the best way I could, to the benefit of the Nigerian nation.

I learnt to admire and respect the man. I was also impressed with the quality of brilliant Nigerians he surrounded himself with and the fact that no reasonable person could easily clothe him with tribal or religious bigotry, the weakness of most of Nigeria's leadership. Some people even began to refer to me as a "Babangida Boy"!

Despite my admiration of the man, I was not unconscious of the fact that there were many in the country who were critical and suspicious of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and who believed he had what was commonly termed "hidden agenda".

On June 24, 1993, the dam broke in what I had considered a special relationship! My dear friend and lawyer, Caleb Ola Atolagbe had told me that irrespective of the assurances of the ever-smiling and hyperactive NEC chairman, Humphrey Nwosu, IBB would do everything to make sure that Abiola was not sworn in as President. I told him that he was talking rubbish. On June 24, 1993, I listened to IBB's very long and unwinding televised speech justifying the annulment of the June 12 election to which humungous national resources and expectations had been invested. Atolagbe was right and I was wrong. The speech shook me like very few things in my life. I practically had instant migraine. I could not understand how a man I so believed was a brilliant master tactician could have been part of the tragic decision that I was sure would traumatize Nigeria and Nigerians for a lifetime and even destroy his own legacy. Clearly, my guy who had Nigeria in his palms, had lost control.

It was the same Caleb Atolagbe that I briefed to file a case on my behalf at the Federal High Court against General Babangida and his government over the annulment of the June 12 elections. Of course, Nigeria became unmanageable. The falcon could no longer hear the falconer and I was advised by friends and family to quickly get out of the country which I did.

Several times, I have read David Hundeyin's recent documentary, "From Drug Lord to Presidential Candidate" and followed the many controversies and arguments generated by Hundeyin whom I have never met. I have also followed the reactions of the family of late M.K.O. Abiola. My understanding is that David Hundeyin is an investigative journalist and not the FBI, CIA, DSS, NFIU nor EFCC. He does not have the resources of government. He has however stated his findings with facts, locations and dates that a responsible Nigerian government ought to thoroughly investigate and make pronouncements on for the good of the nation.

My friends in the camp of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu should indeed call for a full investigation to clear the name of their principal so that the accusations do not become one big life-long albatross round his neck and that of his family or a "good" reason to annul the February 25, 2023 Presidential elections. I also believe that there is too much concentration on winning elections and so little on winning the trust of the Nigerian people so as to properly govern them. In my humble opinion, to leave the critical matter to the social media bomb throwers or the talk shows on Channels and Arise TV, is a serious disservice to the Nigerian people and to Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his family. Is David Hundeyin a hatchet man or a national hero? We ought to know.

Tinubu is alive to defend himself but there is the case of MKO Abiola whose election was alleged in Hundeyin's report to have been annulled by Gen Babangida upon significant pressure of Abiola's involvement in the illicit drug trade. I have several times re-read IBB's annulment speech of June 24, 1993. Nowhere is Abiola accused of involvement in the drug trade. I encourage serious Nigerians to take time and read the IBB speech. Anyone who wants to annul next year's Presidential election will find enough reasons there to do so. Nothing has changed. Vote buying is still going on. The courts are still making contradictory decisions. Abiola is dead but IBB is alive. What exactly happened? Why did IBB wait till the votes had been cast and counted and the winner of the elections known before annulling the elections? Was he trying to protect his friend? It is clear that the June 12 injury will not go away no matter what balm is rubbed on it. I believe that IBB owes us a duty to come clean with what happened, especially as we have been warned that we are on the throes of another June 12.    

For the records, I have written here before that despite our different ethnic origins, M.K.O Abiola treated me like a cherished younger brother and spoke to me on many intimate issues. Indeed, I had a multiple entry visa to his Moshood Abiola Crescent home in Ikeja. Abiola was my benefactor. Most people remember the late MKO for his prodigious wealth, I remember him for his prodigious intellect. Abiola remembered everything and forgot nothing. He could outthink anybody at dizzying speed.

Late in 1992 before the party primaries, Chief Abiola had invited me to his home and we set out in his car for much of the day, driving through Lagos as he inspected different projects and we spoke. On two fronts, he expressed his apprehension about the coming election and his role in it. Firstly, he was emphatic that there were people who would go to any length to stop him from being President. Secondly, he said that he viewed most Africans as one family and the boarders across Africa as artificial divisions created by the white man. He said that he was not sure whether he would be comfortable with representing Nigeria in a dispute with a sister African nation.

My reaction was that considering the bridges he had built across the country, his boldness and foresight, and the trust people had in him, he would have let a lot of Nigerians down if he withdrew from the elections. I then asked him If he had spoken with IBB about the elections and if there would indeed be vacancy at Aso Rock Villa. He assured me that he had and had obtained a positive response. I knew that there was a warm friendship between MKO and IBB. When Abiola's first wife, Simbiat, passed on 10^th November 1992, IBB abandoned everything in Abuja to personally come for the funeral in Lagos. I was there. When IBB hosted me and my colleagues at State House, Marina, MKO flew from Australia to be there and we had a great time.   

Let me state clearly that I could never have been as close as I was to Abiola if I had any suspicion that he was anyhow associated with any illicit drug trade. For the late MKO, family and friends of both MKO and IBB and most importantly, the Nigerian people, IBB has one more important service to render. He needs to tell us the true reason why the June 12, 1993 election was annulled.

See you next week.

THE BIG COPYRIGHT STRUGGLE IN NIGERIA (1)

In the last quarter of 1987, the copyright campaign in Nigeria was hot because of the activities of the new Executive Council of PMAN which I led. At the same time, the structure of PMAN as a true national organization was being built across Nigeria. In most places, the two objectives were tied. Between me and then PMAN General Secretary, the late Benin born Okuoimose E. Okuoimose, we were on the road day and night, setting up the framework for new PMAN chapters in different states of Nigeria and educating people, in positions of authority, on the copyright issue and the key role it would play in the emerging global knowledge and creative economy.

With other PMAN executive members, we met with State Governors such as Amadi Ikwechegh in Owerri, Bode George in Akure, Tunde Ogbeha in Uyo and Benin, Tanko Ayuba in Kaduna and others in Enugu, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Kano, Calabar, etc. At every location, the team met with the resident musicians, the media, police commissioners and commissioners responsible for culture. Some of the commissioners we met were Sarah Jibrin in Ilorin, Chris Anyanwu in Owerri, Moses Ekpo in Uyo, Taiwo Alimi in Abeokuta, etc. The pursuit of our objectives took the PMAN team to the palaces of the Emir of Kano, the Alaafin of Oyo, the Obi of Onitsha, the Paramount Ruler of Uyo, the Emir of Ilorin, the Obong of Calabar, the Eze Apara Rebisi in Port Harcourt, Eze Onuegwunwoke in Owerri, Eze Ikonne in Aba, etc. It was in Aba that Eze Ikonne graciously conferred on me my first Chieftaincy title without asking me for one "shishi".

I was 29 years old and had made a promise to the nascent Nigerian creative industry that by December 31, 1987, there would be a new and more effective Nigerian Copyright Law.

Despite the hyperactive events, when December 31, 1987, came, there was no new copyright law. I had practically sacrificed my career and young family to the service of my nation and had persuaded others to make huge sacrifices too and there was nothing to show for all the sacrifice. As far as I was concerned, I had failed. On January 2, 1988, I sent my resignation letter to PMAN Headquarters. Unknown to people on the outside, PMAN was in the throes of a huge crisis.

An emergency PMAN Executive Council meeting was held. The council refused to accept my resignation insisting that there was nothing I could do that I had not done. Some of the NEC members took the position that if the resignation was allowed, they too would resign. My resignation would have led to the disintegration of PMAN which had gone through an unfortunate period of instability. Legal Adviser, Mr. Caleb Ola Atolagbe was particularly persuasive. He reminded me that we had succeeded in putting in place a reasonably credible process to finally bring about a new copyright law and that after the hopes I had raised, I had a duty to ensure that the process was guided to a successful conclusion. My ultimate decision to stay was for me a very humbling decision. Regardless of what ever happened thereafter, the fact that the law did not come at the time I had pledged it would come, would remain an indelible failure for me.

The reasonably credible process which Mr. Atolagbe spoke about was the product of a meeting held between my PMAN team and Colonel Tunde Akogun who was then Sole Administrator of Culture and Archives. At the meeting which took place at the National Theatre Lagos, I told Colonel Akogun that the musicians of Nigeria were tired of the many unfulfilled promises of the government. Colonel Akogun assured the PMAN delegation that both he and his Minister, Prince Tony Momoh, were determined to solve the problem once and for all. Following that meeting, a planning committee was set up to organize a conference to collate ideas from different experts and stake holders so that a comprehensive review of the Nigerian Copyright Law would be done. I was appointed a member of the planning committee which met in Abuja in November 1987.

The Abuja meeting which held at the Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Trade in the Area 1 Secretariat in Garki was to be the first practical step by the government to address the copyright issue. I traveled to Abuja in the company of Mrs. Keji Okunowo, then MD of CBS Nigeria and Mr. Ayo Fawole then co-ordinator of IFPI Nigeria. Among those who attended the meeting was Tope Popoola, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA). Mr. Popoola came to the meeting with a rather youthful looking lawyer by the name, Bankole Sodipo. Sodipo is today a distinguished professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He was then solicitor to the NPA. I took instant liking to the young lawyer who showed great passion for the intellectual property subject. The fact that we were the two youngest people at the meeting may have played a role in the friendship we struck which has endured till today. The meeting also had a four-man team from the Federal Department of Culture, Colonel Akogun's department. The team led by S.O. Williams had Bayo Aiyegbusi, M.D.I. Olagunju and O.B. Adetula. E.O. Fadina came from the Federal Ministry of Education. Oladele Jegede of the Federal Ministry of Trade who was host and chairman of the meeting was chided by the private sector participants because his ministry which was in charge of copyright, had slept on its mandate. The private sector participants were generally suspicious of the government officials and their well-known penchant for unwinding processes that led nowhere. That suspicion was expressed. A proposal for a National Seminar on the Nigerian Copyright Law was agreed to.

The National Seminar on the Nigerian Copyright Law was held at Durbar Hotel Lagos from the 21st to the 25th of March 1988. The seminar was declared open by President Babangida, represented by Air Vice-Marshal Nureni Imam. Both the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola and Minister of Information & Culture, Prince Tony Momoh were present. The copyright seminar brought together some of the brightest minds ever assembled in Nigeria to tackle an issue. The icons of the Nigerian Judiciary that attended the different sessions include Former Chief Justice, Sir Darnely Alexander; Chairman of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, Dr Olakunle Orojo; Justice Kayode Esho and Justice Augustine Nnamani of the Supreme Court and Justice Fred Anyaegbunam and Justice Babatunde Belgore, etc.

The major outcome of the seminar was the setting up of a committee to draft a new copyright law for Nigeria, using the report of the seminar as its primary working tool. On April 18, 1988, the Drafting Committee convened at Durbar Hotel Lagos to produce the draft of a new copyright law for Nigeria. Chairman of the committee was my great friend, Prof Egerton Uvieghara, the immensely respected professor of Commercial Law at the University of Lagos. who passed on last year. I served on the committee. (To be continued).

See you next week.

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH?

WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH?

One Monday morning a few years ago, I was standing on my feet and sleeping at the same time. In fact, my feet did not appear to belong to me. It was by the special grace of God that I did not fall and break my skull. I was spent, finished; all the energy in me gone.

The night before, I had been a ball juggler. I had had the job of ensuring that all the hundreds of elements that must come together to make a sizzling show like the COSON Song Awards to spark, indeed came together.

For those who may not know, the COSON Song Awards was only one of eight different back-to-back events that took place at eight different big venues during an eight-day period of the incredible COSON Week. It was my job to produce the eight events and make each particularly spectacular.

For more many months, I had a job that no one else in the world would want. I had to subject myself to a lifestyle you would not wish even for your bitterest enemy. The earliest I went to sleep any night was 1.00 am. The latest I woke up was 3.00 am. I slept a maximum of two hours a night. There was no bed so, sleep was sitting on my chair at work. There was so much to plan, so much to create, so much to design, so much writing to do, so many disappointments to overcome, so many bills to pay, so many egos to manage, so many devils to keep at bay… so much of everything!

If you were a guest at the COSON Song Awards at Eko Hotel & Suites, you would have had to present your specially crafted and embossed COSON Song Awards passport at the specifically set up immigration stand at the big event. Oh, the passports came in two colours; green for regular and red for diplomatic.

It was only after a guest had been issued with a visa on arrival and his passport stamped and signed by the gorgeous immigration officers was he or she ushered into the glittering world of the "Red Carpet Fantastico" to enjoy choice drinks, finger foods and the ultra-beautiful hostesses and mingle with Nigerian stars of all callings dressed to finish with paparazzi firing and firing thousands of flash bulbs away. Now and again, one of the beautiful hostesses would catwalk with a placard proclaiming love for country.

Some have tried to copy the passport concept but no one has yet copied the immigration spectacle at the COSON Song Awards. Also, no one has yet copied the concept of the 'Red Carpet Fantastico', all original ideas.

While everything went like clockwork at Eko Hotel and everyone appeared to have had loads of fun, the event nearly did not happen.

Five times, the immigration stands were dismantled by the hotel officials who believed we were messing up their facility with our crazy ideas. Five times, we re-mounted the stands. I understood the reaction of the Eko Hotel staff. What we were doing had never been done before. It was unusual. If we had first sought permission to do it, we would have been told that shows are not done like that.

At events, I create ideas that rattle people. Those ideas are the spice that have made the events I have produced, unique and memorable.

I am sure many Nigerians would remember when at the Nigerian Music Awards in Lagos, I was lowered on to the stage of the National Theatre from the very high roof of the main bowl. What many may not know is that I had not rehearsed to be lowered from that height. That spectacle was supposed to belong to the late Femi Segun, who was married to Fela's first daughter, Yeni. The uniquely talented and adventurous Femi was the anchor at the show. A few minutes to the show, with the audience of Nigeria's best already assembling, Femi decided he was not going to do it again. The idea appeared very dangerous and even suicidal. This was after we had made the necessary preparations and rehearsed and rehearsed. So, I had to quickly change the script and had to go up myself. The rest is history.

These days, I go to events and hear the Nigerian national anthem interpreted in many different ways. The first time I assembled some of Nigeria's iconic female singers; Christy Essien Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Funmi Adams and Veno Marioghae to do what I termed "the National Anthem in Style", a senior police officer came to warn me that I would be arrested for bastardizing the National Anthem if we went ahead. We did it all the same. The ladies sang like angels. At the end, the National Theatre erupted in a standing ovation. Once again, the rest is history.    

When the OPEC ministers from around the world visited Nigeria some years ago, I was asked to do a show at the International Conference Centre in Abuja as Nigeria hosted them. Those who attended the show will recall the big steaming metal pot with massive fire on stage from which elegantly dressed people emerged. That also scared some people.

Almost everybody can listen to music at home or watch TV. I believe that people come to shows to have an experience. To me, a show without spectacle and a story to tell is not much. Anybody can organize and produce them.

A show to me is also a mirror of the society and where it is going. I believe that as a people, we are too risk averse. The people who first went to the moon went to where no man had ever been. There was no guarantee that they would come back alive. What they did however opened new vistas for mankind. The young men who flew the first aero plane had no assurance that they would not crash and die. I believe that death will come when it would come. But we should not be so afraid of death that we do nothing significant while we are alive. If we want our nation to be truly great, we must push the envelope.

In the things I have done, I have discovered that the Almighty has placed in each of us more ability than we can imagine, more tolerance than we can contemplate and more creativity than we can visualize. We are more than we think we are. We simply need to push the envelope. Each time it appears that I have reached my limit, a new limit emerges. That is why I believe that there is nothing that a man can conceive that he cannot achieve.

There were many times in the course of the work that I do when it has appeared like I could go no further. There have been severe physical challenges, organizational challenges, financial challenges, challenges of envy and other man-made challenges. I have said repeatedly that I drive on a full tank of faith. Each time I have been challenged, I have looked towards the Man who sent me on this errand, the Almighty. Not once has he let me down. Have faith and you are sure to find that there is no mountain too high for you to climb, no river to deep or wide for you to cross, no challenge that you cannot meet.

See you next week.

HOW MANY VOTES DO FASORANTI AND ADEBANJO HAVE?

Apart from the very sad death of Ifeanyi, the three-year old son of my dear friend and younger colleague, Davido, much of the news during the week came from the campaign of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At a time that the motley crowd of the PDP presidential campaign team led by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, decided to embark on a nebulous trip to the United States of America, the ground was left for the Jagaban to do as he pleases. And he did.

I understand that one of the big achievements of Atiku on the U.S. trip was that he got interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC! I have been interviewed on Voice of America in Washington DC, several times. So, have so many other Nigerians. It is no big deal. Nobody in America listens to Voice of America which is part of the propaganda arm of the United States State Department, a station that broadcasts essentially to the "third world".

By the way, how many people in Nigeria know that there is a broadcast station transmitting from Abuja funded by the Nigerian government, called Voice of Nigeria? Who listens to it? In this day and age, with the unlimited platforms for news ready and available on our cell phones, how many people listen to or watch any station owned by any government?   

And so, while Atiku was away, Tinubu with his own motley crowd of 'ex this, ex that' and the ubiquitous video cameras, stormed the Ondo State home of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the immediate former leader of Afanifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political group. And it is reported that Tinubu presented his 80 page 'action plan' to the 96-year-old Pa Fasoranti who prayed for or "endorsed" Tinubu for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The people who organized the Tinubu trip to Ondo state knew what they were doing. The intent is to clip the wings of Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the current leader of Afanifere who is also in his 90s and who had the "effrontery" to announce that Afenifere was endorsing the presidential ambition of Peter Obi, an Igbo man from Anambra State flying the flag of the until recently unheralded Labour Party. The reactions and controversy have been massive and immediate. Arguments are raging as to who the current leader of Afenifere is, arguments that are mostly self-serving and turning reason upside down.

The war over the heart and soul of Afenifere is revealing on many fronts. It is clear that nothing is sacred in this battle to get to Aso Rock; not the survival of a proud institution of a very proud people; not the long-standing love and friendship between two old men at the twilight of their lives; not the tenuous relationship between Nigeria's two major ethnic groups, the Igbos and Yorubas; not the religious balance that serious people think is essential to the survival of our nation; not anything! All is fair in this war. Any obstacle to the achievement of the goal must be crushed. Any calabash must be broken. It does not matter what it costs. What money cannot do; more money can do it!

In the battle for the soul of Afenifere, you begin to understand the mindset behind EMILOKAN… It is my turn. If you are a thinking person, you must pause and think whether this is a project for the good of the Nigerian people or a project for self fulfilment, regardless of the cost to the Nigerian people.  EMILOKAN… Wow!

Two days after storming Ondo State, the Jagaban was back in Lagos where he presented his action plan to the business community. Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; foremost investor, Tony Elumelu and founder of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, led the group of business leaders that were at the event at Eko Hotel attended by Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima, APC governors and party loyalists.

Have you forgotten the controversy over the fake bishops that attended the unveiling of Tinubu's running mate, Kashim Shettima? It is clear that no trick or subterfuge will be spared and no values will be left standing on this journey to Aso Rock. Will it work?

Why do I believe that the forth coming elections in Nigeria will not be decided by who Pa Fasoronti, Adebanjo or Dangote endorses? It appears that the young people of Nigeria have made up their minds to take their future into their hands and will not be listening to any godfather anymore.  Maybe democracy will finally arrive Nigeria.

The entire democracy project hangs on an intriguing concept: all men are born equal. In other words, the great Aliko Dangote with his zillions of Naira, many trucks and thousands of employees has the same voting power as his cook. In a democracy, the opinion of Elon Musk, the young man who just paid over 40 billion US dollars, more than the entire Nigerian foreign reserve, to take over Twitter and whose 'can do spirit' is behind Tesla, the self-driving electric car now populating American roads, has the same weight as his janitor. Mark Zuckerberg, the mastermind of Facebook who today also owns the mega platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp has no voting power stronger than that any of his thousands of employees across the globe.  A Barack Obama with his political sagacity and deep experience in world affairs casts one vote and that vote is in no way superior to that of a homeless man begging for coins in front of Washington DC's Union Station.

I was talking with a big player in the present Nigerian government. I had asked him why the government does not appear to listen to what the Nigerian intelligentsia says, especially as elections are coming close. He looked at me, sighed and said mockingly, "the government does not need the votes of the intelligentsia to get to power. Their vote is too expensive! Go to the motor park and the marketplace with some bags of rice and salt and some Naira notes and all the votes you are looking for are there with very little grammar" You see why the bullion van concept took hold in Nigeria and brought us EMILOKAN where whatever money cannot do; more money can do it?

EMILOKAN is a scary mindset. Nigerians better watch out.

See you next week.

 

THERE IS NO EXPRESS ROAD TO ASO ROCK

The battle is on! The Bola Ahmed Tinubu team is rolling. Around Lagos, hundreds of thousands of posters, banners and buntings proclaiming Tinubu as Nigeria's potential savior, are on every wall. So are those of his 'godson', Babajide Sanwo-Olu. "Emilokan!" It is his time! His ubiquitous foot soldiers and fast-talking PR men have been let loose to tell you the opposite of what you think you know. Television adverts and intricately crafted documentaries will soon fill the air. The bullion vans have been unleashed and in a never-before-seen display of shock and awe, Tinubu is determined to get to Aso Rock Villa by air, land or sea.

The BAT team believes that kilometer by kilometer, they are constructing the express road that will take the Jagaban straight from Bourdillon to the most sought-after mansion in Nigeria, Abuja's Aso Rock Villa. As far as they are concerned, all the talk about Tinubu's health is hogwash. The queries on Tinubu's origins and antecedents are nonsense. The arguments over how he acquired his stupendous wealth, are just evidence of bad belle. The quarrels over a Muslim-Muslim ticket are just noise. Anybody on the road will be crushed. "Emilokan!" It is his time!

The big campaign council has been inaugurated and the glossy manifesto released. All systems, go!

With the many problems that Nigeria has - trillions of naira in unpaid debt, ubiquitous kidnapping, banditry and senseless killings, fearsome oil bunkering in hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude every day, incurable corruption, tribal and religious intolerance, flooded towns and villages, etc., etc., etc., you would think that nobody would want Buhari's job. No! Tinubu wants it and wants it badly. Do not forget that the guy who resides at Aso Rock determines who gets what in Nigeria and who keeps what. With one signature or one sentence, he can make you stinkingly rich or terribly wretched. Probably, nobody in Nigeria more than Tinubu understands that what money cannot do, more money can do it. "Emilokan!" It is his time!

Then, I remember the great MKO Abiola. Despite our different ethnic origins, he treated me like a cherished younger brother and spoke to me on many intimate issues. Indeed, I had a multiple entry visa to his Ikeja home. Most people remember the late MKO for his prodigious wealth, I remember him for his prodigious intellect. The man was as sharp as 'Crocodile Narcet'. Before the computer notebook was made public for worldwide use, Abiola had a motherboard and processor in his head. Abiola remembered everything and forgot nothing. He could outthink anybody at dizzying speed. Yet when it came to Aso Rock, Abiola with his massive intellect, unsurpassed contacts and many-many bullion vans thought he had got the keys to the villa. Na lie! As he tried to open the gate, he found that the keys had been changed. Abiola died fighting for the keys he thought he got fair and square. In his mind, Abiola must have said, "Emilokan!".

Some in the Jagaban team think that Atiku Abubakar is the man they must crush on the road to Aso Rock. Atiku wants Aso Rock Villa as much as Tinubu. Atiku Abubakar had lived in the very next building to the Aso Rock mansion. Just like Yemi Osinbajo, Atiku had at close quarters inhaled the intoxicating perfume of the place and wants to be its principal. As Vice President, Atiku knew all the pathways and back doors to the villa. Atiku Abubakar has deployed money, lots of it; has travelled far and wide on different vehicles; compromised with many people he otherwise would not speak with. At times he lost his way, retraced his steps and began the journey again. When Atiku Abubakar began his walk towards Aso Rock, the villa was very close but the more he has walked, the father away the villa has become. How could Atiku have imagined that he would face the kind of nuclear war he today fights with Nyesom Wike?

Just think of it, could Atiku have imagined that the man who may block his way to Aso Rock would be his friend and former Vice-Presidential candidate with a falsetto voice, Peter Obi. Obi was not in either Tinubu or Atiku's plan. In Lagos, I have not seen even one poster or banner of Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi pasted on any wall. Is it that they have been so easily out gunned or is it that the game has changed?

The "OBidients" are still busy pasting their posters, but not on the walls or bridges at Ojuelegba, Obalende or the 3^rd Mainland Bridge. They are vigorously pasting their posters on millions of Facebook walls, Twitter walls and Instagram walls. They are all over the place on WhatsApp. And they have been for so long … which makes you wonder if most voters in Nigeria have not already made up their minds. Has the game changed?   

Believe me, the spiders, crocodiles and vampires on the way to Aso Rock are mind boggling. Beyond the bullion vans, there are intrigues, deceptions and betrayals that no screen writer can contemplate. I have written before that to enter Aso Rock, even by means of a coup, takes everything.

Anyone who tells you that he knows who the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be, is a big liar. Not even Buhari knows. Believe me, there will be many more twists and turns in the tale. There is no question that Tinubu has enormous resources of men and money. He has built a significant war chest. He obviously has done well for himself in Lagos. There are many who fear Tinubu and are hell bent on opposing him. It crosses tribal lines.

Yesterday, I listened to my young mechanic speak with so much passion. He is a Yoruba boy. He pointed to me how Tinubu became the "Emperor" of Lagos and his wife became a Senator, his daughter, the "Iya Oloja", leader of the market women and his son, the henchman of outdoor advertising. My frightened mechanic warns that soon, MC Oluomo might become a minister of the Federal Republic and everyone will become a slave in the Tinubu empire. He holds the strong opinion that everything must be done to stop Tinubu from becoming the "Emperor" of Nigeria.

February 2023 is so near yet so far away. The next four months will be intriguing. Believe me, there will be no express road for anyone to Aso Rock.

See you next week.

WHICH WAY NIGERIA?

Which way Nigeria? That is the question on the lips of every Nigerian patriot as the country marks the 62^nd anniversary of its existence as an independent nation. Which way Nigeria? That is the question being asked by many of the thousands of disappointed and frustrated young Nigerians who call themselves "Obidients" and who are likely to troop out this weekend unto the streets of Lagos.

Which way Nigeria? Those are the three undying words in a question put in song by the great Nigerian music maestro, Sonny Okosun who passed on at the age of 61 reportedly of Colon-cancer on May 24 2008 at Howard University Hospital, in Washington DC, USA.

Which way Nigeria? The campaign for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria to answer this question, has officially kicked off. The referee has blown the whistle. The match has begun!

Which way Nigeria? What we have seen in the many months of meetings and consultations in Nigeria, in London and elsewhere has been horse trading or the appetizer. If you are not ready with your main dish yet and answers to the question, you have a big problem. In a few days, the streets all over Nigeria will be defaced with all manner of posters. Soon, all kinds of campaign propaganda will be blaring on radio and television. John Momoh of Channels TV and Nduka Obaigbena of Arise TV should soon be laughing to the bank. The social media rats who have since been mobilized to join issues are being unleashed to take over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, etc. They will be struggling to answer the question, Which way Nigeria?

Another question that must be answered in this election was asked by the great Sonny Okosun in song: "Who owns Papa's land?"

Can you see that the parties with big "structures" are having big problems? Big structures mean big egos and big claims to ownership and big money to share. In PDP, Wike, Atiku, Ayu, Okowa, Ortom and co are engaged in a raging battle for control. In APC, party chairman, Adamu & Co are in a wrestling match with Tinubu which has forced Tinubu to go to London to go and "rest". Big structure, big headache!

For many years, Nigerians have surrendered their country to "the cabal". Sometimes, they have been called "the Kaduna Mafia". These are the people who are supposed to determine what happens in the country. They determine who gets what and who goes hungry. They assume that the own Papa's land. The battle over the composition of the Presidential Council is really a battle for representation in "the cabal" that supposedly owns Papa's land.   

In the Obidient Movement, the Nigerian people own Papa's land. Without a Presidential Campaign Council, the "Obidient" campaign is on the move while their opponents are busy putting out fires that refuse to go away. There are no big egos to massage and no big money to share. Who says you must have a Presidential Campaign Council?

Many might wonder why the "Obidient" movement in Nigeria has caught fire as rapidly as it has done. Peter Obi simply found a vacuum created by the PDP and APC and moved into it. You might also say that the vacuum created by the PDP and APC found Peter Obi and conscripted him. A lot of Nigeria's young people today are living on the hope which Mr. Obi seems to exude. In fact, the Nigerian "cabal" must thank Obi for whatever level of sanity that still exists in Nigeria. Things might have got to the point where many would have started denying ownership of their big mansions and their fat bank accounts and running for cover from angry Nigerians. It is the hope that many of the young people see in the new movement and the possibility of a better future that is keeping the anger and frustration from boiling over.

Like the Nigerian Iconic singer, Sonny Okosun sang, "It is now or never!"  It is clear that the young people of Nigeria, the same age group that drove the

DON’T TRY ME BECAUSE I CONTINUE TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH!

You may have read about my high school debacle which I once served on Saturday Breakfast.

Once in high school, I got 12% in a mathematics exam. The experience tore my soul. Me, Tony Okoroji, 12%? How did that happen?!

I usually do not blame anyone for whatever predicament I go through, believing that life is a challenge and only the strong survive.

I knew that the 12% result was my own making. Mathematics was never really a challenge to me, so I had taken it for granted. Any time the mathematics teacher was in class, I did cross word puzzles or read some comics. I paid no attention.

At exam time, my brain froze. I panicked! I could not remember any formula. Something like BODMAS sounded like Latin! It became strange and confusing. The reason was very simple. I did not practice at all. From being overconfident, I totally lost confidence.

The shame and humiliation that followed my 12% debacle affected me going through life. I resolved that 12% has no business with me and 12% success would not come my way again. Next term, I followed the mathematics teacher from class to class, took every note and practiced every formula. At the end of the term, I had an 'A' in the same mathematics. From then on, I considered 'B' a failure.  

Those who went to school with me and those who have worked with me thereafter will testify that I prepare, practice and practice for everything. I never want to go to a meeting without studying t[to1] he issues and fully understanding what I want to come out with at the end of the meeting. I do not embark on an event without checking every box, over and over again, and being sure that there is a Plan 'B', if Plan 'A' goes wrong. I am sure my lawyers are sick of me. I never let them file my case in court without checking every line and being certain that the processes are very well done and that the facts and the law are on my side and every hearing notice is served on time. Even in this Facebook era, nobody who works with me is allowed to send out a document with bad grammar or without the 'i's dotted, the 't's crossed and all the punctuation marks in place.

Have I always got an 'A'? Many of the times I have. There are however sometimes that I have not. I recall going to a Lecturer at the University of Lagos to say that I wanted to retake his paper. I had scored a 'B' in the paper and was distressed. The lecturer was very angry with my 'audacity' and told me how stupid I was. He was emphatic that he does not give an 'A' to any student and that 'A' belongs to him. At the end of the day, I found out that my 'B' was the best result in the subject. What I have discovered is that if you strive for an 'A', the worst that is likely to come your way is a 'B'. 

In the university, as a student, I used to teach classes and I realized that my fellow students preferred my classes to those of the lecturers. They would ask me questions they would not dare ask the lecturers. I knew that the students would enjoy embarrassing me if it was obvious that I did not know what I was talking about. So, before any class, I would go through the subject with a tooth comb and prepare for every possible question. What my colleagues did not know was that it was my way of preparing for exams.

I am that guy who would tell you bluntly that no matter what you are into, if you fail to plan, you have planned to fail. The problem is that there are too many lazy people, people who go through life without a plan and with little effort. They do not work for an 'A' and would readily accept "let my people go" which most times results in failure. Then, they will blame their failure on the lanky old woman in their village, everyone else, everything else and not themselves.

I have little wealth in terms of money, but I have faith and happiness. I appreciate the grace that the Almighty has given me to work hard, focus on every challenge and achieve results that are pleasing. I love the gifts the good Lord has given me, and I try to use them the best I can for the good of as many of God's children as possible. That is my own wealth.

I have said before that I do not want to be Dangote or Otedola or Ronaldo or Donald Trump. My name is Tony Okoroji and I like it.

I know that the Almighty has given to each of his children our peculiar gifts. The problem is that rather than harness our gifts, some people are very busy with envy and covetousness and fixated on the gifts of others. Somebody should tell them that I do not want to be them and no matter how much they try, they cannot be me.

I have heard that some say that I am arrogant. No sir! What they consider as arrogance is confidence. When you prepare, you are confident, you are ready, and you drive on a full tank of faith! Lawyers will say that equity does not aid the indolent. It is the same way that I believe that the Almighty does not support the unprepared.

Despite the challenges of Nigeria, I am here to stay. I do not concede my rights as a Nigerian citizen to anyone. Let me state that I am not so stupid that I do not understand that the wisdom and strength we deploy do not belong to us but to the Almighty. My guys, come rain, come sunshine, don't try me because I continue to drive on a full tank of faith!

 

See you next week

---

 

ONCE UPON A FESTUS KEYAMO (2)

 

In my last Saturday Breakfast, I served a piece, "Once upon a Festus Keyamo". I was travelling and cooking the piece at the same time and could not garnish it properly. I apologize.

I had written last week that I used to be a great admirer of the young lawyer, Festus Egwarewa Keyamo. I like bold and courageous people. I am certain that no great nation in human history has been built by cowards. Nigeria will not be the exception. Apart from the natural good looks of Keyamo, he used to appear to me as a young man of serious conviction who stood firmly for truth, justice and fairness and was prepared to pay whatever price necessary for the progress of the Nigerian people.

When I saw people like Festus Keyamo, I was assured that no matter how fierce the locusts and vampires may be, there are people who will stoutly defend Nigeria and Nigerians and our nation will survive and grow from strength to strength. I was sure that Festus Keyamo would continue with the important job the great Gani Fawehinmi did for our nation for which he will be admired forever.

Yes, I have hosted the "who-is-who" of Nigeria in the different events I have organized: Gani Fawehinmi, M.K.O. Abiola, Ezigbo Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, etc., etc. I wrote last week that a few years ago, Festus Keyamo honoured me with his presence at one of my events at Eko Hotel, Lagos. I was so excited by his presence. That is how much I have admired the young man and how much I saw him as a future Nigerian leader.

You must understand how I felt the day I first saw Festus Keyamo on television, frontally defending the unmitigated disaster that is the Buhari administration. I was revolted. I honestly did not know whether to vomit or to cry. Oh! I asked myself: Is this the same Festus Keyamo? Have they cloned him? What could they have offered or promised him to agree to deploy himself to tear down with his own hands the brand that he laboriously built?

I was always sure that Festus Keyamo is intelligent. At a rather young age, he became a successful solicitor and advocate and even a senior advocate, but he makes a big mistake in thinking that the problems of Nigeria can be solved by mere combative words and smooth talk, and that he is the best man to deliver the words and smooth talk. As intelligent as he may be, I am not sure Keyamo quite understands that our nation is going through a particularly dangerous period in history and that our young people can see what is going on and are appalled by it.  

I am amazed that Festus appears to believe that the problem with the Buhari government is poor advocacy and propaganda. In other words, the anguish and horror the Nigerian people are going through are make-belief. To him, it must be that Lai Mohammed, Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu and the rest have done a very bad job of selling the government. Ask him about the successes of the government and he will real out the roads, bridges and railway lines the Chinese have built in Nigeria at a cost no one is quite sure of. One of the railway lines is of course the one from Abuja to Kaduna that has since been abandoned to bandits.

For some reason, Keyamo, a relatively young man, cannot see or feel the dangerous direction that the Nigerian nation has been headed in recent times and the hopelessness that seems to engulf the citizens. He also cannot see the humongous corruption that is making our nation unable to pay its bills, the nose-dive of the Naira, the brazen and open stealing of our crude oil, the tribal and religious divisions, kidnappings, senseless killings, abductions, banditry, galloping inflation, joblessness and the political and judicial rascality that have sapped the hope and faith of our young people. No amount of advocacy or propaganda by Festus or anyone else can change the fact that the Buhari government is an established calamity. I watch Festus on TV and he talks like it is business as usual. Is it possible that he does not know that the falcon can no longer hear the falconer?

When Keyamo was named a minister, quite a few people thought that he would be designated Attorney–General & Minister of Justice and given the job of ensuring that the rule of law is sacrosanct in our country. For where? The people who believe that they own the country thought it was too dangerous to give such an assignment to someone who comes from where Keyamo comes. The job was given to Buhari's son-in-law and Festus was made a junior minister!

Festus Keyamo is excited that he has been appointed the spokesman of the APC Campaign Council. Wow! Keyamo, the chief salesman of Nigeria's totally corrupt bullion van democracy? What am I talking about? If they had not schemed Adams Oshiomhole out of the APC Chairmanship after he got Buhari to power again, our once respected NLC President may today be shouting at ASUU like Education Minister Adamu Adamu who as a journalist, was once a key ASUU supporter.

I have watched Keyamo defend the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket. He is sure that Nigeria will never become an Islamic State because of Sections 10 and 9 of the constitution. Ha-ha-ha-ha! He should know that you don't need a constitutional amendment if the people in power are determined to do everything an Islamic state does. He thinks that the Vice President has no real power. He says that his being No 2 man is just for protocol and order of precedence in public! Pray, who becomes President if the President is incapacitated or dies in office?

Festus Keyamo has said repeatedly that outside the South-East, Peter Obi is a carpetbagger and may in fact be a trojan horse for Atiku Abubakar. He believes that the purported massive support that Peter Obi enjoys is a joke concocted by putting 20 people in one room who use avatars to appear to be many and to abuse everybody. Is the guy serious?

Who is this guy on TV that looks like Festus Keyamo? Does he know that there is a tomorrow? What did they promise him?  

 

See you next week.

SALMAN RUSHDIE, AUTHOR OF ‘THE SATANIC VERSES’ STABBED IN NEW YORK!

7 days ago, in Saturday Breakfast, while reacting to Sam Omatseye's piece, "Obi-tuary" published in the Nation Newspaper, I had gone back in history and reminded everyone about Salman Rushdie who between 1988 and 1989, may have created the most provocative events in the history of global literature. The publication in the United Kingdom of "The Satanic Verses", a novel by the Indian born British-American author, almost set the world on fire as a significant number of Muslims across the world accused Salman Rushdie of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.

The publication set off a chain of reactions and demonstrations across the world leading to the death of many. The late Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a worldwide fatwa for the killing of Rushdie anywhere he was found, with a 3-million-dollar bounty. Much of the world was horrified as Salman Rushdie lived in hiding and disguise for many years.

Yesterday, 34 years after publishing The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie, 75, was stabbed on stage as he was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in the state of New York. Eyewitnesses say that he was stabbed many times in the neck and abdomen by the attacker wearing a mask who has been identified as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey.

Mr. Rushdie who was rushed to hospital by a helicopter was on a ventilator this morning and could not speak. If he survives, he may lose an eye because of the depth of the wounds inflicted on him.

When last week, I published "THE 'SATANIC VERSES' OF SAM OMATSEYE", and told the story of Salman Rushdie, I could not have known that within 6 days, the great author would be fighting for his life.

With the deluge of reactions to Omatseye's "Obi-tuary" article, I could not but feel that the Rushdie experience was being relived. Last week, Nigeria's social media environment was practically on fire. Thousands of literary arrows were fired at Omatseye. The gentleman cried out that his life was in danger. It was truly a significant week in Nigerian literature: its use and abuse. While many were worried about what appeared to them to be a death sentence on Peter Obi, I was more worried about the tribal and ethnic insults, insinuations and inuendoes in Omatseye's article and the possible consequences.  

I am concerned that in the desperation to please their masters, many of Nigeria's political operatives, in this season, are plummeting into tribal and religious bigotry and incubating hatred with irredeemable passion. All those who support Peter Obi must be labelled Igbo irredentists, Biafran apologists and closet IPOB members. I know that "OBI" has the same three letters as "IBO" spelt backwards, but many of my friends who are rooting for Peter Obi 100%, come from every state and every tribe across Nigeria.

In the same manner, the supporters of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are being painted by the other side as die hard Yorubas who cannot see anything good in an Igbo man and who cannot help but hate Igbos. It is as if there are no Igbos who genuinely believe in Tinubu and support him. On social media platforms, you will be forgiven to believe that the nation is at war! At the heart of of the conflict is the primordial belief by each group or tribe that its people are the chosen people of God who will dominate the world.

The emotionally fortified among us might accept the development as election propaganda and noise which will evaporate after February 2023. In today's Nigeria in which many are tormented by hunger, insecurity, and suspicion, how many people are emotionally fortified? The reality is that Nigeria is today like a vast land of dry firewood that only needs the smallest spark to explode in an all- consuming fire. The Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda lived with each other for many years until some people in 1994 lit the fire of intolerance that consumed almost half a million people in the genocidal free-for-all killing.

This is why all of us who practice some form of literature or journalism must remember the words, "the pen is mightier than the sword".  

To my knowledge, no one has issued a fatwa on Sam Omatesye and no one should. No one should harm Sam Omatseye. Sam, like every other Nigerian citizen has the right to his constitutional freedom of speech. As a writer, he should enjoy the literary licence that every writer thrives in. I however believe that all of us must understand that if the nation goes up in flames, there will be no Nigeria in which Tinubu, Peter Obi or Atiku will be President.   

The other thing to remember is that there are many cranks and crazies out there who will on their own issue a fatwa and go out to harm people they believe are against them many years after the fact.

Please join me in praying that the great Salman Rushdie survives yesterday's attack and gets back to writing the beautiful literature for which he is well known.

 

See you next week.