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[OPINION] Attorney-General Adoke and the burden of freedom - Chidi Odinkalu
SENIOR Nigerian public officers are notoriously parsimonious with their recall once out of office. From among their club memoirs are the unusual. In a country ruled by whim, risk aversion is prudent when you are out of power. By feigning amnesia, yesterday’s men limit the likelihood that their successors may remember them for the wrong reasons. Moreover, with government as the principal guarantor of a good life, respect for the its rule of Omerta is the only way to retain any hope of access to its revolving doors.
When it occurs, departure from this trend is usually enforced. This is why Mohammed Bello Adoke’s 2019 memoirs remain notable. Adoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, was Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under President Goodluck Jonathan for five years from 2010 until 2015. Since leaving office, he has endured exile, detention, and a failed criminal trial in connection with the infamous Oil Prospecting Lease, OPL, 245 granted in April 1998 by General Abacha to the shadowy Malabu Oil and Gas Limited.
Even before his trial began, Adoke felt called upon to discharge a burden in relation to the controversies that dogged him after office. Fittingly, his story is published under the titled, Burden of Service. The sub-title, Reminiscences of Nigeria’s Former Attorney-General, underscores the point that Adoke is, remarkably, the first former Attorney-General of the Federation to publish an account from his time in office.
In addition to the Malabu Oil controversy, Burden of Service also offers insights into many other highlights of the Goodluck Jonathan years, including the hand-over of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, recovery of the endless Abacha Loot, the removal of Ayo Salami as President of the Court of Appeal, and the climactic denouement to Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election. In the afterglow of what he must regard as judicial vindication, it is timely to re-examine Adoke’s own narration.
While his parochial account is interesting in and of itself, it is the vignettes he offers when he is not necessarily pleading his own cause that make Adoke’s insights deserving of attention. A general theme of his is the shiftiness of Nigerian politicians and he illustrates this with several issues in the book. Some deserve scrutiny.
The first is the currency of loyalty in Nigerian politics. Under General Abacha, politicians popularised “I am loyal” as cult greeting. It is not lost on those interested that anyone who has need to repeat affirmations in this way probably knows nothing about loyalty in the first place. Illustrating this point, Adoke narrates how many people close to President Jonathan donated money to support the campaign of General Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. According to him, “many of my cabinet colleagues, including those known to be close to the President, had made donations to Buhari’s campaign. Those involved included heads of agencies. A Principal Officer of the National Assembly from the PDP was to later confess publicly that he donated N5 million to the APC during the elections.”
This shiftiness is not limited to politics; it also extends to high matters of constitutional legality. This is the second highlight from Burden of Service. Adoke tells a remarkable story about the fate of the Constitution (Fourth Amendment) Bill of 2015, which was said to have failed to receive presidential assent before President Jonathan vacated office. The amendment included clauses granting immunity to law-makers, life pension to former presiding officers of the National Assembly and inducting them into life membership of the National Council of State. It also contained a provision dispensing with presidential assent to constitutional amendments.
As Adoke recalls, after the 2015 election, the National Assembly transmitted the Bill to President Jonathan for his assent. By the time Adoke learnt of this, President Jonathan had reportedly assented to the bill and authorised for it to be returned to the National Assembly. So, Adoke raced to the presidency to explain to the President the dangers inherent in the provisions contained in the amendment he assented to. After his encounter with President Jonathan, “the President looked genuinely surprised and promptly withdrew his assent”, whereupon he directed the Attorney-General “to prepare a memorandum elucidating all the issues…. raised and why he would have to veto the bill.” The rest is history but an important constitutional question arises – can a president having assented to a law unilaterally withdraw his assent?
Thirdly, there is the issue of weaponisation of litigation against the public purse in judgment debts. It’s best to render this in Adoke’s own words: “Many of the claims were bogus but since it was an organized scam, they were getting away with it…. Again, there were too many people interested in judgment debts. We were getting calls from all manner of people, including members of the National Assembly. Actually, some National Assembly members were making appropriation for judgment debts based on an understanding with the debtors (sic). It was a conspiracy against the national treasury.” This does not require any translation but it is noteworthy that Attorney-General Adoke chose not to tell who “they” were.
Fourth, there is the matter of plea bargains in white collar crimes involving politically exposed persons, PEPs, in Nigeria. About this, Adoke tells the story of the presidential pardon granted former Bayelsa State Governor, Diprieye Alamieyeseigha. According to him, Alamieyeseigha’s conviction was under a plea bargain and “as part of the plea bargain he was to be granted presidential pardon by (President Umaru) Yar’Adua after his release from jail. This, however, did not materialize as President Yar’Adua fell ill and died.” Plea bargains are subject to approval by courts and it’s doubtful whether this part of the deal was disclosed to any court. It certainly wasn’t disclosed to Nigerians.
Fifth, as Attorney-General of the Federation, Adoke was also the official leader of the Bar. His memoir offers an unusual insight into how he views hierarchies at the Bar. To make this point, he tells the story of how, before his time, “a substantial part of the budgetary allocation made for solicitors’ fees was being paid out only to two or three private solicitors. There was a case of a former Attorney-General that was paying a Senior Advocate N50 million for each case….” The result was there was insufficient money to go round and many cases against government went un-defended, leading to more judgment debts. So, how did Adoke address this? He decided that “no SAN would be paid more than N5 million for a brief; any other lawyer, who was not a SAN, would receive a maximum of N2 million.” In the un-complicated calculus of Attorney-General Adoke, a SAN is worth 250% of a non-SAN!
The narration in Burden of Service unfolds at four distinct levels of pre-text, text, context, and sub-text. It is replete with claims of moral high ground and completeness of disclosure but – as with nearly all memoirs -the reader must have an eye for both the credible and the incredulous. The line between these two can sometimes be non-existent in Adoke’s mind.
In telling the story of the removal of Ayo Salami as the President of the Court of Appeal, for instance, Adoke prefaces his narration with the implicit disclaimer that “the Attorney-General is not a member of the National Judicial Council, NJC”, who recommended the retirement of Salami. He then proceeds to a pro-forma narration that is half-hearted to the point of being manifestly disingenuous.
According to Adoke, Salami “had personally encouraged” him to apply for SAN. However, Chief Justice Katsina-Alu, who was the other party in this terminal dog-fight with Salami, was his “mentor and adopted father” and benefactor, who personally recommended him to President Jonathan for the position of Attorney-General. Why it should fall to the Chief Justice of the Federation to nominate the Attorney-General of the Federation is another matter altogether. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that in this part of the book, at least, Adoke was – to put it rather mildly – less than economical with the truth.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Edo guber: Why Orbih, Shaibu, Adjoto, others are ganging up against Obaseki
The Vice Chairman South-South of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dan Orbih; former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, and several other bigwigs and followers of the party in Edo North senatorial district, weekend, said they were displeased with the way Governor Godwin Obaseki was going about the September 21 Edo governorship poll.
Obaseki abandoned those who worked for him — Orbih
Orbih said they are the foundation of PDP which is anchored on unity, fairness, justice and equity, saying that Governor Obaseki came into the party in 2020 and abandoned the group that worked and voted for his re-election.
His words: “I am not part and parcel of the PDP campaign council. In 2020, we came out in Edo North supporting the election and re-election of Gov Godwin Obaseki. I, Dan Orbih, worked with Governor Obaseki to deliver him. People ask me questions: where are we today, what is the way forward?
“Today, I can boldly tell you, all is not well with the Edo State PDP. As we prepare and move forward for the upcoming election we will do all we can to let Edo people know that this election is about Edo and the future of Edo.
“Let me send a powerful message to PDP, we the Edo PDP can tell you that it is not well with Edo PDP. I hereby denounce my membership as a member of PDP Edo campaign council. Obaseki and his chosen candidate is not the way forward.”
Legacy group’s behind Shaibu
Orbih also condemned the impeachment of Shaibu and said that the Legacy Group was behind him.
He said: “The present predicament of Philip Shaibu is that some people are saying you have no right to contest the election. We are here today to let the good people of Edo North know that we support you, appreciate you and in the matter between you and the Edo State government, we stand by you. As for the PDP legacy group, we are proud of Philip Shaibu.”
Edo people won’t vote for an outsider —Shaibu
On his part, Shaibu said Edo people cannot vote for a candidate who does not know their problems and challenges.
“We will not vote for an outsider. Edo State needs a home grown person, I want to assure you that we are in support of Dan Orbih’s Legacy Group. We will not support Asue Ighodalo. WE will wait for the direction of the PDP Legacy group on who to vote for,” Shaibu said.
Obaseki could not manage our 2020 success — Adjoto
In like manner, Adjoto said PDP under the leadership of Obaseki could not manage the success of its victory in 2020.
He said that instead of consolidating on the victory recorded in 2020 election by rewarding those who worked for his re-election, Obaseki opted for others in the party who did not work for the party.
Akoko-Edo’ll deliver 80% votes to Ighodalo—Omobayo
However, Deputy Governor, Omobayo, said the PDP would win the election, assuring that his Akoko-Edo people would deliver at least 80 per cent of their votes to Ighodalo.
He stated this at a reception organised by the Akoko-Edo Forum, AEF, in collaboration with the local government area and the traditional institution where the AEF requested the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee to create two additional local government areas of the council in view of its landmass to engender development.
Omobayo, who said he did not lobby for deputy governorship, said Governor Obaseki’s sense of equity and justice should be rewarded.
“Governor Obaseki has a very fair sense of justice, fairness and equity. This informed his, permit me to use the word, ‘stubborn’ decisions that the next governor must come from Edo Central. We must deliberately and consciously liberate ourselves. Governor Obaseki has broken a generational curse, and to whom much is given, much is expected.
“The job description is to deliver 70 per cent of Edo North for Asue Ighodalo and I do not expect less than 80 percent from Akoko-Edo. If you look at the combination of Ighodalo and Osarodion Ogie, without bias, you can’t compare them to the others. When you look at them, they are even more pro-masses than Governor Obaseki and when the drums begin to beat, you will see more of them.
“The governor has designed a deliberate master plan that will usher us up to 2050 and for those who care to listen, the masterplan is amazing. The governor is setting up a system that will lead to the state revolving around the youth in the state.”
In his address, President of AEF, Dr Charles Jagun, who was represented by Steven Dania, said AEF had been at the forefront of presenting the case of the Akoko-Edo LGA to the world and “as development partners interested in the development of our local government area, we are calling for the establishment of a tertiary institution in this area which will bring development. We are equally in the process of submitting a memorandum to the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee for the creation of additional two local government areas from Akoko-Edo and also calling on the State House of Assembly to create LCDAs.”
On his part, chairman of the local government area, Tajudeen Alade, said: “We have been witnessing high levels of marginalization, oppression, suppression, and deprivation that have led to our frustration and despondency and that is the more reason we like speaking out. But now, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, the Akoko-Edo of our dream is here today.”
US Trip Exposed Ignorance Of Northern Governors – Sule Lamido
Former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, has tackled Northern governors over their recent trip to the United States.
Daily Trust had reported how the Northern governors recently traveled to the US to attend a peace summit organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Reacting to the development, Lamido, in a Facebook post, said the trip exposed the governors’ ignorance of the country’s constitution.
The former governor said security is solely the responsibility of the federal government because it is on the executive-legislative list.
The statement, titled, ‘Advancing our shame and embarrassment beyond our frontiers!’ reads: “Our Northern Governors as concerned leaders traveled all the way to the United States of America to attend a lecture at the American Institute for Peace titled ADVANCING STABLITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA as to find a lasting solution to the intractable problems of insecurity bedeveling their respective states.
“Their concern commendable as it were, ended up exposing their ignorance at understanding the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the very instrument which gave them the legitimacy and the authority to be Governors!
“If the Governors had traveled to the US to engage on how to boost agriculture or health issues or any other pressing local problems listed on the Concurrent List of our Constitution this could be quite understandable! But to engage on issues which are on the Exclusive Legislative List such as Security says a lot of the substance they are made of.
“Security is a very wide subject which their Excellencies must have capacity to grasp. Most urban towns in their State lack portable drinking water, refuse dumps have taken over some streets; all these have precipitous Security health hazards. Our children attend primary schools under the trees and where there are built classes, they take their lessons sitting on the floor, yet the Security implications of this can not be discerned by their Excellencies. Deliberate and harshly induced poverty by unplanned government policies have made citizens lose their esteem, honor and self worth by lining up scrambling to collect palliative from patronizing and condescending leaders yet the Insecurity of this is of no worry or concern to them.
“You have Governors with no human empathy or respect for dignity or decency in an open show of shame throwing money like confetti from an open Jeep and people scrambling to pick it like the Governor of Niger State. Yet they fail to see the security implications of all these!
“If the Governors were serious and wanted to have a lecture on security, they needed not have embarked on such a wasteful journey with the accompanying expenditure of flight tickets, hotels with all their aides and above all the valuable time wasted at the expense of running their States.
“Certainly they could have gotten more than they wanted from our resourceful institutions such as NIPSS in Kuru Jos or ASCON in Badagry or even NIA! These three Institutions have more than enough materials, essays and templates on the problems on Security in Nigeria more than the far fetched American Institute.”
[DailyTrust]
‘I destroyed my ex-boyfriend’s car for being reluctant to marry me’ – BBTitans’ Yvonne
Big Brother Titans reality star Yvonne Godwin has recounted how she destroyed her ex-boyfriend’s car and pilot uniforms for being reluctant to marry her.
She revealed that her pilot ex-boyfriend kept their relationship secret which didn’t sit down well with her.
Appearing on the Cool FM programme, The Big Friday Show With Tach, Yvonne disclosed that when she confronted him about it, he said he was waiting for his elder sister to get married before taking their relationship seriously.
Angered by his excuse, the reality star said she burst his car tires, smashed his windscreen, and poured Jik on all his pilot uniforms.
She said, “One day I confronted him, I told him, ‘You’re hiding something. It’s either you’re married somewhere or… Because why are you hiding me?’
“I caused trouble; I burst his tires, smashed his windscreen, he was a pilot so I poured Jik on all his uniforms. Youthful exuberance. I was young.
“He wasn’t married. He just wasn’t as serious as I was. He wasn’t ready to show me. And his excuse was, ‘You know my elder sister is not yet married.’ He said he wanted his sister to get married first. It didn’t make sense to me.”
Yvonne is currently dating fellow BBTitans reality star, Juicy Jay from South Africa.
[DailyPost]
Tinubu secures Maersk’s $600mn investment for Nigeria’s ports infrastructure
President Bola Tinubu has secured an additional $600 million foreign investment for the expansion of the nation’s ports infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services in Nigeria’s ports.
The new $600 million investment, which was offered from the Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, would be complementing the $1 billion already being invested by the administration into seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western flanks of the country.
The new investment decision was disclosed on Sunday by the Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla, during a meeting with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The president added that it would further support the country’s port modernization efforts and port process automation through his administration’s implementation of the national single window project, which is aimed at enhancing trade facilitation, easing import/export flow, reducing corruption at the ports, while improving the efficiency and transparency of port processes in Nigeria.
“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere.
“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships,” he said.
The president assured Maersk of his administration’s commitment to collaborating and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.
He cited Maersk’s previous partnership in the development of the Ogun State container terminal as a testament to fruitful partnerships with the reputable logistics company.
Highlighting Maersk’s longstanding engagement in Africa’s most populous nation and his belief in the future of Nigeria, Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Mr. Robert Maersk Uggla said his company had made significant investments of over $2 billion in Nigerian ports and other activities.
He emphasized the potential for Nigerian ports to accommodate larger container ships and stressed the need for expanding port infrastructure to meet this demand while reducing the cost of logistics.
”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify.
”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.
”In my humble view, given that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria should have the best and biggest port and we are very eager to invest, and we will continue that dialogue with the relevant Nigerian authorities to explore further investment opportunities,” the Maersk Chairman said.
[TheNation]
Osun APC chieftain urges Tinubu to monitor N200bn intervention fund
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Osun State Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has lauded President Bola Tinubu for the N200 billion Presidential Intervention Fund recently launched for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and manufacturers in the country.
Oyintiloye, who stated this on Sunday while addressing newsmen in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, equally advised the President to monitor the distribution of the funds to meet the required targets.
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, on April 22, announced the launch of the Fund.
(https://punchng.com/fg-unveils-n200bn-intervention-fund-for-msmes-manufacturers/)
However, Oyintiloye, while harping on the economic contributions of MSMEs to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, urged Tinubu to “personally” carry out “integrity checks on the process to prevent sabotage.”
He said, “By creating jobs, MSMEs help to reduce unemployment rates, promote innovation, stimulate economic growth and diversification.
“And that is the more reason we have to give it to the President for this initiative. It will in no small way boost the economy through the creation of open new markets because MSMEs are vital to the economic growth of any nation. But there must be a close watch on the distribution of the funds. The President must ensure that he is personally carrying out integrity checks on the process to prevent sabotage.”
The APC chieftain added that “MSMEs contribute over 45 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with 98.8 per cent of them in the micro cadre.
“They account for nearly 90 per cent of the jobs in the country.
“Therefore, as MSMEs grow, they create more jobs, contribute to GDP by producing goods and services for domestic consumption and export, which will lead to prosperity for more, and less insecurity across the country.”
Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker and a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council, said that the intervention fund would also boost the manufacturing industries in the country, adding that no modern economy could be developed without a strong industrial base.
He, however, urged Nigerians to continue to support the President for the delivery of more dividends of democracy.
Petrol scarcity: Supply challenge will last for another 2 weeks – IPMAN
As acute petrol supply challenges enter its second week, independent marketers have explained that issues that led to the scarcity of the product would take another two weeks to be fully resolved.
Checks around Abuja on Sunday showed that most stations were out of stock with very few major marketers dispensing the product in Abuja city centre. At the suburbs, the few stations opened to motorists jacked up their pump price from N680 per litre to N870 per litre.
Speaking to Vanguard on the situation, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike said the product was not available in-country.
Chief Ukadike blamed the acute shortage in supply of importation bottlenecks and the slow pace of marketers licence renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
He disclosed that only 1,050 marketers out of 15,000 have had their licences renewed by the NMDPRA.
He said: “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations. On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.
“Once there is breech in the international supply chain, it will have an impact of domestic supply because we depend on import. I also have it good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turn around maintenance. So sourcing of petroleum products has become a bit difficult.
“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30 days supply sufficiency distrusted, it takes two to three months to restore it. We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply and with another one week, normalcy should return”.
The challenges faced by marketers in renewing their licences, he said: “NNPC has said the marketers who have not been able to renew their licences will not be allowed to remain on their portal which has been shut for sometime now. Because of this we have not been able to request for new products.
“At this nascent period of deregulation, you will discover that this leads to scarcity even when the product arrives. As it is now, even by their own data, out of 15,000 marketers that are on the portal with licences, only 1,050 renewed their licences. And the requirement for renewal by NMDPRA is so much. Marketers are facing hostile environment. NNPC placed a deadline of April 15, 2024, for marketers to renew their licences.
“We are therefore appealing to NNPC extend this deadline and also to NMDPRA to hasten the release of marketers licences who have completed their processes, and also reduce the bottlenecks around licence renewals”.
[Vanguard]
Tinubu: Petrol subsidy removal necessary for Nigeria not to go bankrupt
President Bola Tinubu says the removal of the petrol subsidy was necessary to prevent Nigeria from going bankrupt.
Tinubu had announced the removal of the subsidy on May 29, 2023 — a development that immediately led to a spike in the price of the product and stoked inflation across the board.
Speaking on Sunday during the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Saudi Arabia, the president said the decision was to reset the economy and create a pathway for growth in the country.
He acknowledged the difficulty associated with the decision, stressing that it was in the best interest of the people.
“Concerning the question of the subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt, to reset the economy and pathway to growth,” Tinubu said.
“It is going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is taking difficult decisions at the time it ought to be taken decisively. That was necessary for the country.
“Yes, there will be blowback, there is expectation that the difficulty in it will be felt by a greater number of the people, but once I believe it is their interest that is the focus of the government, it is easier to manage and explain the difficulties.”
Tinubu, however, said there is an arrangement to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal policy on Nigeria’s vulnerable population.
He said Nigeria has a vibrant youthful population interested in discoveries, “highly ready for technology, prioritising education and committed to growth”.
“We are able to manage that and partition the economic drawback and the fallout of the subsidy removal,” the president.
Tinubu said the petrol subsidy removal equally engendered accountability, transparency and fiscal discipline for the country.
Here are pictures of the president at the WEF.
[PRESS RELEASE] ECOWAS Deploys Some Forty Observers to Monitor Togo's Parliamentary and Regional Elections
The President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, has deployed an Election Observation Mission of forty (40) observers to Togo to monitor the legislative and regional elections scheduled for 29 April 2024.
This mission is in line with the provisions of Article 12 of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and constitutes support from the regional organisation to its Member States for the conduct of their elections. The mission is led by the former Vice-President of The Gambia, Mrs Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang.
The mission is made up of Ambassadors from Member States accredited to ECOWAS; representatives of the ECOWAS Court of Justice and Parliament; Civil Society Organisations; media professionals and election observation specialists from the West African region.
This observation mission is being deployed following the recommendations of a pre-election fact-finding mission that visited Togo from 15 to 20 April 2024 to assess the preparatory phases of the elections.
During its stay in Togo, the observation mission will hold consultations with the main stakeholders in the electoral process and monitor the voting process up to 29 April 2024.
---------------END-----------------
For further information, please contact
Communication Directorate, ECOWAS Commission
X: @ecowas_cedeao – Facebook: Ecowas-Cedeao
[OPINION] Adieu, Sidi H. Ali (1938-2024) - Wole Olaoye
Some people inspire us with their lives, others teach us a lesson with their death. In the case of Hon. Sidi Hamid Ali, veteran journalist, politician, ‘persuader’, author and statesman, his life enriched so many narratives while his death last week diminished all who knew him.
Sidi Hamid Ali was a man-and-a-half; too much for one country, not enough for two. Restless, sharp-witted, impulsive, perspicacious, creative and loyal to causes and people he believed in, he was one of a kind. In the almost five decades that I was privileged to know him, he still ranked as an enigma— half-question, half-possibility, half-exclamation, half-puzzle-behind-puzzle. His persona was easy to understand but if you thought you knew him, you would eventually find out that you didn’t fully know him.
Gun Incident
The first thing that comes to the mind of many people when the name Sidi Ali is mentioned is the incident in the House of Representatives during the Second Republic when he was alleged to have drawn a gun and thrown the entire house into panic. What actually happened was that a fellow parliamentarian had assaulted Sidi Ali (which was a serious parliamentary offence) and Ali had duly reported the matter to the Speaker and other leaders of the house. He waited for several days for action to be taken against his assailant but no such action was forthcoming.
So, he decided to teach them all a lesson. He smuggled a gun into the legislative chambers and as soon as he saw his assailant who was conferring with other colleagues, he drew the gun. Legislators, led by the Speaker, voted with their feet! The assailant didn’t show up in the house for several weeks until he was assured that his apology had been accepted by Ali. Although a stickler for rules, he was not averse to stirring things up when necessary.
Born in Kano in 1938, he spent part of his childhood in Ghana where his father, Alhaji Sidi Ali, ran a thriving cattle business. He started school in Shahuci Elementary School in 1945, and in 1949 went to Kano Middle School where he was in the same class with Murtala Mohammed who was to join the army in later years and become Nigerian head of state.
He was sent back to Ghana for higher education but he was enmeshed instead in radical politics which led to his expulsion. He and some of his colleagues came to the attention of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who decided to help mould them to become useful to Africa of the future. Nkrumah gave him scholarship to study in the UK but the plan didn’t work out because he did not have an A-Level certificate, so he was sent to New York in the US where there was a provision for a six-month remedial course to make him eligible for university admission.
Those were the days of momentous events in many parts of the world. In Africa, the Congo crisis was in full bloom. Young Sidi Ali was the Chairman of the Political Committee of the Pan African Students’ Organisation (PASO). In that position, he led demonstrations and was part of the group of African students who provided security for Cuban leader Fidel Castro when he stayed in a hotel in Harlem. The American authorities fingered him as one of the undesirables.
Journalist & Author
After bagging his degree, he returned to Ghana but the situation had drastically changed as Nkrumah had been overthrown and the ruling military men were very edgy. By the mid-sixties, the political situation in Nigeria itself had deteriorated. When Sidi Ali returned, he had the good fortune of meeting benevolent seniors like Alhaji MD Yusuf and Alhaji Ahmed Joda both of who assisted him in getting into the civil service.
He was in the team that ran the propaganda machine of the Nigerian government throughout the civil war. His skill as a prolific writer also came in handy in his later career as an author of nine books.
Fittingly, Ali became known as a principled politician and uncompromising journalist. It was his journalism that fed his political activism.
In the run-up to the Second Republic, he had written an article critical of the military and had been slammed in prison. The prominent party in Kano was the radical People’s Redemption Party (PRP) which sent two of its members, Abubakar Rimi and Inuwa Wada to co-opt Ali as a candidate for the federal house of representatives. His nomination form was filled while in prison and he eventually won the election, representing Danbatta even though he was from Darma in Kano City. All that mattered to the people was that he was Mallam Aminu Kano’s candidate.
When I first met Hon. Sidi Ali, I was working in DRUM magazine and we shared many friends and sources together. I used to visit him in his home and office in Obalende, near Dodan Barracks, Lagos. We called him Sarki of Obalende. He was a treasure throve of information. We even managed to collaborate on a few anti-apartheid programmes at a time when Thabo Mbeki and his fellow freedom fighters also had their offices in Obalende. Proverbially speaking, you could say he knew where all the dead bodies were buried. He therefore enjoyed the respect of fellow professionals and, indeed, the ruling elite, whether in uniform or in babariga. In those pre-internet days when every little source was gold, Sidi Ali was the gold mine itself.
He was a go-getter. He once told me the story of how he wanted to see Chief Awolowo at his Ikenne residence but was prevented by security men. He then told the head of the security that it was Mama Awolowo he wanted to see, not Papa. A message was sent to Mama and she promptly replied that Sidi was her son and should always be given free passage whenever he came. With him, you never said never.
In the 90s, Hon. Ali was a regular visitor to my office at Academy Press in Ilupeju where he processed tons of quality calendars, diaries, annual reports and journals to the envy of many advertising agencies. As a devout Muslim, he observed all his religious obligations routinely as he would just disappear with my office assistant to one corner whenever it was time for the Muslim prayer. In all his business dealings, his word was his bond.
Friend & Brother
We were to link up again when my office moved to Abuja. He had earlier relocated to the new capital city. We simply continued from where we left off. All through his life, he remained passionate about Nigeria actualising its potentials. He operated an ‘open-clock’ policy in the sense that if he was thinking of some idea or writing something and needed clarification or simple contextualisation, he would call me, even if it was 2am!
Every Eid-El-Kabir, I always had a full pot of ram meat from Hon. Ali. Even if I was in Lagos, he would arrange for a driver to bring my share of the sallah meat from Kano to Abuja where my staff would collect the consignment.
We spoke for exactly 11 minutes and 38 seconds about three weeks ago. We discussed his health for about three minutes and I also had a brief chat with his son, Osama. The rest of the time was taken up by political talk and a review of the security situation in the country. His voice was strong, clear, and passionate. He didn’t sound like an 86-year-old man who had just three weeks to take the final bow. I like to remember him that way: Pontificating, assertive, hopeful, witty. I pray that God gives his family the fortitude to bear his demise.
Adieu, my detribalised friend, collaborator and elder brother, Mallam Sidi Hamid Ali. Allah Ya gafarta maka, Ya dawwamar da kai gidan aljanna.