Individuals and groups both within and outside Nigeria spent a major part of Monday condemning the chairman of the Lagos State Traditional Council and Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, for saying "any Igbo person in Lagos who refuses to vote for his own endorsed candidate would die withing seven days."
The Oba, who received some Igbo chiefs resident in Lagos at his palace during the Easter celebration, reportedly commanded the Igbo people to vote for Akinwunmi Ambode, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as governor of Lagos State in the election that would hold on Saturday because if they vote for Jimi Agbaje, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whom he called his blood, that would be their end.
By the grace of God, I am the owner of Lagos for the time being. On Saturday, if anyone of you, I swear in the name of God, goes against my wish that Ambode will be the next governor of Lagos State, the person is going to die inside this water.
« For the Igbo and others in Lagos, they should go where the Oba of Lagos heads to. When they were coming to the state, they did not come with all their houses. But now, they have properties in the state. So they must do my bidding. And that is the bidding of the ancestors of Lagos and God.
"I am not ready to beg you. Nobody knew how I picked Ambode. Jimi is my blood relation and I told him that he could never be governor in Lagos for now. I am not begging anybody, but what you people cannot do in Onitsha, Aba or anywhere you cannot do it here," the Oba had said.
Since Monday when the report as well as the audio and video format broke, Nigerians have taken to various social media to castigate the Oba with many saying he does not know how to talk while others say his comments are inciting.
Some even made jest of him saying as a retired police officer, he has been heavily influenced financially to forget the pride that should come with his stool.
CATHOLIC GROUP CONDEMNS AKIOLU
In a statement condemning him, the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria said the Oba's threat was against morality and royalty.
in a statement signed by Fr. Evaristus Bassey, Executive Secretary of the Caritas Nigeria and JDPC, Abuja, the religious group wondered why the Oba singled out the Igbos whereas even some Yorubas and people of other tribes would vote for Agbaje.
"At the national offices of Caritas Nigeria and Justice Development and Peace Commission, we are totally shocked to read about the threat handed down by Oba Akiolu to the Igbos in Lagos. While it is understandable that a Royal Father would want for his wishes to be carried out, we are deeply concerned that the royal father is missing the point that Nigeria is a republic and a democracy and not a monarchy.
"We understand the genuine fear of the great Oba of losing Lagos to strangers. But Lagos has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Africa for decades and any citizen contributing to its economy and politics can be a bona fide resident. As such, the upstages as happened in the last elections are to be expected.
"Nevertheless natives and non-native residents should feel free to negotiate and clarify expectations but not in the threatening and intimidating manner the revered Oba has lashed out.
"We have just a few interrogations: why single out a particular ethnic group for this curse? Does it mean a Yoruba or Hausa person living in Lagos who votes for Jimi Agbaje will go scot-free but any Igbo who votes for Agbaje will drown in the Lagoon?
"Does it mean that people should vote out of fear and not their consciences? Would such an election be free and fair, where people have to vote out of intimidation? Does not the threat of the Oba Akiolu amount to voter intimidation?
"We humbly call on the Oba himself to withdraw his curse and rather appeal to the people, for indeed such a threat may amount to playing God and God who is a merciful father will not allow his children to die so senselessly just because they were fulfilling the dictates of their conscience.
"The fact that APC is government at the centre is a strong factor to employ and appeal to people to vote APC rather than invoking ancestral powers for destruction. Why is it that in Africa we usually invoke our powers for destruction and not for building-up?"
OHANAEZE GIVES AKIOLU 48 HOURS ULTIMATUM
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a socio-cultural organisation of Igbo people, on Monday evening issued Oba Akiolu a 48-hour ultimatum to, not only retract his threat to the Igbo people, but tender an unreserved apology to the ethnic group.
The group which reminded the monarch that democracy gives the freedom to the electorate to make their choices without intimidation, said it was a despicable insult on the Igbo nation, home and abroad, for the Oba to issue such threats adding that it was the least expected of a royal father in the rank of Oba of Lagos.
The group, which asked security agencies to invite the Oba for questioning because of the grave dangers his current posture portends, slammed the Oba for using a crude method to attempt to coerce the people in a situation where they are free to make their choices.
In a statement issued in Umuahia, Abia State and endorsed by its National President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the group warned that Igbo youths would not take this insult lightly, and unless he apologises within 48 hours he should know he is courting the wrath of the Igbo people. It also asked that the Oba should be held responsible should anything happen to any Ndigbo or their business interests in Lagos in the event of APC losing the Lagos governorship race.
"Inasmuch as we do not want to get involved in Lagos politics, we want to sound a note of warning that no Igbo should be vilified or persecuted for his or her electoral choice in Lagos or any part of Nigeria.
"Every Nigerian has the constitutional right to reside in any part of the country and participate in the electoral process based on one’s convictions, and electoral choice is not a crime.
"Nobody no matter what he thinks he is, has the right to command Ndigbo anywhere on who to vote for in a democratic setting," the statement said adding that the Oba's comments only revealed his innate hatred for Ndigbo.
YOU DON'T OWN LAGOS, PDP TELLS OBA
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned what it described as "the emerging height of political recklessness in Lagos and Ekiti states ahead of Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections and calls on all Nigerians to stand up against such anti-democratic tendencies."
APC members in the Ekiti State House of Assembly have commenced impeachment moves against Governor Ayodele Fayose, but the PDP said: "the senseless and unpatriotic impeachment move against Governor Ayo Fayose by out-going APC state legislators and the barbaric death threats on non-indigenes in Lagos by the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu if they voted for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, ascended to a height of unruliness that should not be accommodated.
"The PDP totally and unequivocally rejects the flimsy and unsubstantiated allegations concocted by the APC legislators against Governor Fayose. We state in very clear terms that we will stand with him and bear our full weight in defense of the mandate freely given to him by the people of Ekiti state.
"We invite all lovers of democracy and the international community to note the antics of APC and the deliberate plot to destabilize the polity even when it is yet to assume power.
"In the same vein, it is indeed most unfortunate that a royal father of the status of the Oba of Lagos should attempt to drag the revered traditional institution into partisan politics to the level of threatening innocent Nigerians with the view to prevent them from freely exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right.
"Our response to the Oba of Lagos is that he cannot play God and can never be God. God owns the universe and every part of it and can never share His glory with any human no matter how highly placed.
"We therefore call on all Nigerians in Lagos state; all Igbos, Hausas, Yorubas and people of other tribes; all northerners and southerners; all Christians and Muslims to turn against this unpatriotic stance, by coming out enmasse to vote for the PDP candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje on Saturday.
"Undoubtedly, this anti-Nigeria position reminds of the 2013 inhuman and callous arrest, detention and eventual ‘deportation’ of non-indigenes by the APC-led government of Lagos state and confirms fears that the APC is indeed on a mission to destroy our national unity, balkanize the nation and obliterate the personal freedom Nigerians enjoy today.
"Already, the APC has started terrorizing supporters of the PDP with vows to make life unbearable for them when it eventually assumes power. Our investigation reveals that many of our prominent supporters have been marked. The process has already started with threats to the life, family and business of the Chairman of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah for supporting PDP candidates and helping non-indigenes win some Lagos seats in the National Assembly on the platform of the our great party.
"Indeed, if this threats on a duly elected state governor and innocent Nigerians constitute the picture or foretaste of the order of the day when the APC finally assumes power at the center, then the nation is in serious danger. However, the PDP states in very unambiguous terms that Nigerians would not accept such under any guise whatsoever.
"This is more so because in the last 16 years, our citizens from all walks of lives have seen civility and decorum under the PDP-led administration and would not accept any attempt by anybody to institute a reign of terror in the country
"We therefore urge General Muhammadu Buhari as the leader of the APC to call his members and supporters, particularly in Lagos and Ekiti to order; especially bearing in mind that it was the peaceful atmosphere and the level playing ground nurtured by the PDP-led administration that created the room for his emergence at the presidential polls. Our country cannot at this moment afford to slide into anarchy, reign of terror and deliberate schemes to divide the the people for selfish political reasons.
"The PDP will completely resist all anti democratic forces from any quarters. We therefore charge Nigerians, especially those in Lagos and Ekiti states respectively to stand up fearlessly and reject the unpatriotic stance of the Oba of Lagos and the undemocratic move to dismantle the mandate given to Governor Ayo Fayose by the people."
FEMI FANI-KAYODE`S RESPONSE
In his reaction, the Director of Media of the President Goodluck Jonathan campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said: "the Oba of Lagos' threat against the Igbos in Lagos that if they do not vote for the APC in the governorship elections on Saturday they should be ready for the consequences and that if they don't vote for Ambode they should be ready to perish in the lagoon is ominous and unacceptable.
"The truth is that we were threatened with ethnic cleansing and religious carnage in the north had Buhari not won the election on march 28th and had Jonathan not quickly conceded defeat and now our traditional supporters are being threatened in Lagos and in many other states.
"Let two things be clearly understood. In as much as we all want peace in this country and in as much as Jonathan has graciously and quickly conceded defeat in the Presidential election, this does not mean that we are weak or powerless.
"Let it be clearly understood by all and sundry that any attempt to kill or molest our supporters in the north, in the west or indeed in any other part of the country either before, during or after saturday's governorship elections or any attempt at ethnic or religious cleansing by the APC, their supporters or their friends and agents will be deemed unacceptable and will be met with defiance, contempt and resistance.
"Enough of all these APC threats and all this rubbish. No-one is intimidated on our side and neither do we fear for the future because God is with us, He is faithful and He is in control. We want peace and we want harmony in this country but no-one or no group of people will be allowed to turn us or our supporters into slaves or give us sleepless nights.
"The APC would do well to remember that they only won the presidential election by 2 million votes. The PDP got 12 million votes in that election which means that we have 12 million loyal foot soldiers and supporters in this country and that is no mean feat.
"We are a strong party, we are confident for the future, we are ready for anything and most important of all we are ready for the polls on saturday. We take this opportunity to urge the PDP faithful in Lagos to go out and vote en masse for the PDP.
"We urge them to vote for Jimi Agbaje and to free Lagos state from the shackles of darkness and oppression. We urge them to stand firm, to hold their heads up high and to do their very best.
"We urge our supporters in Rivers state, Oyo state, Imo state, Plateau state, Kaduna state and indeed in all the states where elections will take place on saturday to do the same, to take the destiny of their respective states into their hands and to vote for the PDP candidates in the various elections.
"What happened during the presidential election on March 28th was sad and unfortunate but we have accepted defeat and we wholeheartedly accept the will of the people of Nigeria. That does not however mean that we should close shop and not put up a good fight for Saturdays governorship elections.
"This is the time to call on the party faithful to rise up. This is the time to rally our troops and to call on our footsoldiers and loyalists to come out in their millions and wipe away the sadness of march 28th by winning massively in saturdays governorship elections.
"This is the time to prove to our detractors that despite their provocative utterances, their empty and boastful threats, their mocking words and their gratutious insults that the PDP is far from dead and is still very much alive.
"Our party shall go from strength to strength despite the monumental challenges that lie ahead. Whether we win or lose on saturday is not the issue. The issue is that whatever anyone may say and whatever they may feel, the PDP is not going anywhere and neither shall we crumble and fade away. We are here for the long haul: we are here to stay."
AMBODE'S SUBTLE DISAPPROVAL
In what seems like a subtle disapproval of Oba Akiolu's threats to the Ndigbo in Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode said he would not be a governor to selected ethnic groups in the state but would stand for everyone in the state as governor.
In a statement released to journalists on Monday, Ambode said promised that every group in Lagos would be safe in his hands as governor adding that he would not discriminate against any religious or ethnic group if elected.
"It is our Lagos and we must build it together.
« In my acceptance speech after the primaries I made this note that I will be a governor for all and Lagos is safe in my hands. I want to build on the foundation of unity, peace and progress and development laid by my predecessors.
"And though tongue and tribe may differ, we stand in brotherhood in Lagos from the smallest ethnic groups to the major ones. We are all stakeholders," he said.
PALACE CLARIFIES OBA'S STATEMENT
In a bid to douse the tension created by the Oba's statement, the palace has explained what it said actually transpired at the event.
In a statement signed by Chief Lateef Aderibigbe Ajose, the Opeluwa of Lagos, and made available to Huhuonline.com, the palace said: "last Sunday, all honorary Eze Ndigbos in Lagos paid a courtesy call to HRM Oba Akiolu. At the meeting the visitors praised the Oba for his fatherly support for and cooperation with Igbos in. Lagos. They assured him of their continued good neighbourliness with other tribes in Lagos and support everything that will further strengthen that harmony.
"Oba Akiolu on his part acknowledged the enviable performance of Governor Fashola and his contribution to the growth of investments in Lagos. He gave the assurance that he is not disturbed or angry with South-East and South- South votes for President Jonathan as perceived by the Eze Ndigbos.
"The Obas thereafter called on the Igbos chiefs to show appreciation to Lagos State by supporting his candidate Mr. Ambode for continuity of excellence as they have earlier promised.
"He assured them of his continued support and assistance where needed and the meeting ended with the traditional breaking of kola, alligator pepper, and bitter kola and pouring of libation on the ground.
"It was within this context that the tradition of Lagos with regard to the lagoon came up. It was noted that whoever works against the throne and the interest and peaceful co-existence of Lagos would end up in the lagoon as per tradition.
"Oba Akiolu stated further that the Igbo people have not betrayed the throne. Lagos has also not betrayed the Igbo people. Lagos has done so much to make the Igbos comfortable and to prosper. For this, we expect reciprocal respect and understanding. The Oba of Lagos prays that the Lagoon and the throne will continue to bless and protect all those who reside and visit Lagos.
"Oba Akiolu is the father of all irrespective of tribe, religion or political persuasion. In Lagos, we have an old traditional proverb that relates to the Lagoon. The Lagoon is unique to Lagos. The proverb stresses the need for unity and understanding when you do business in an environment and in this case when you live and do business in Lagos.
"Oba Akiolu prayed for peace for the land of Lagos and prosperity for all its inhabitants."
APC DISOWN OBA AKIOLU
However, the All Peoples Congress in a statement signed by Joe Igbokwe, the state spokesperson of the party, the APC apologized and appealed to Ndigbo to allow peace reign, considering the longstanding relationship that has existed between Igbo and Yoruba since the inception of Nigeria. “No human being is above mistakes,” Mr. Igbokwe said. “People can make mistakes and correct it thereafter. The Oba of Lagos can make a mistake and we believe that the statement credited to him was a mistake. If to err is human, we plead with Ndigbo to let the sleeping dog lie.
“After the March 28 2015 Presidential elections, Ndigbo in Lagos have been trooping into the Lagos APC fold in droves. They have pledged to throw their full weight behind the APC guber candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. The support was total and unprecedented. You can therefore imagine how we feel as a party when this incident came just few days to the governorship elections.”
“Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos is not a card-carrying member of APC. He is not a leader in APC. He does not speak for APC. He did not speak for Governor Fashola of Lagos State. He did not speak for our National leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He did not speak for the incoming governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. His Royal Highness is at liberty to speak for himself and he spoke for himself only. Lagos APC appeals to Ndigbo not to take the statement as the position of the party in Lagos.”
“We passionately appeal to Ndigbo not to carry the statement credited to Oba Akiolu too far so as not to put a knife on things that have held us together for more than 50 years now. If out of annoyance you throw your cap away a mad man will take it and use it forever.”
“A lot is at stake in Lagos. Lagos has been fair to Ndigbo and Ndigbo have reciprocated by taking Lagos as their home no matter whose ox is gored. Lagos APC believes that Ndigbo will not burn the bridges because of this minor setback.
“Lagos APC has worked so hard with other Nigerians to enthrone a government at the centre and we cannot afford to throw all these gains away by allowing the mistakes of the last weekend to stand on our way to link Lagos effectively with the centre. Our own Oba Rilwan Akiolu’s slip of tongue should not be used as an excuse by Ndigbo to reverse these huge gains. Ndigbo should forgive and forget by voting APC en mass this coming Saturday.”
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, on Wednesday, arraigned self-styled relationship therapist Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, popularly known as Blessing CEO, before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, over an alleged fresh ₦13 million fraud.
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Blessing CEO was arraigned before Justice Yelim Bogoro on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and retaining the proceeds of an alleged unlawful act amounting to N13 million.
The latest case brings to three the number of criminal charges currently pending against the defendant before different courts in Lagos.
According to the anti-graft agency, the charges arose from multiple petitions submitted by individuals and organisations, including the Nigeria Cancer Society. The petitioners alleged that the defendant solicited donations from members of the public through social media after claiming she was battling Stage 4 breast cancer and required financial assistance for treatment.
The EFCC alleged that several donors made contributions based on the representation, only for investigations to later reveal that the medical document she presented to support her claims was allegedly falsified.
The Commission further alleged that the donations, totalling ₦13 million, were obtained under false pretences and subsequently retained by the defendant.
The arraignment marks the latest legal challenge for Blessing CEO, who is already facing two separate criminal prosecutions before courts in Lagos.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, she was arraigned before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, over an alleged ₦69.15 million fraud. She was charged with obtaining money by false pretence and stealing.
The EFCC alleged that she falsely represented herself as the owner of a property located at No. 1 Tunbosun Osobu Street, Lekki, and induced Hope Chiropractic Health Clinic Limited to pay ₦69.15 million for a five-year lease. The Commission further alleged that she converted the money to her personal use.
She pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge. Following submissions by counsel, Justice Oshodi ordered that the arraignment proceed and remanded her in EFCC custody pending further proceedings.
The case was adjourned until July 16, 2026, for the hearing of her bail application and commencement of trial.
Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, granted Blessing CEO bail in the sum of ₦10 million with two sureties in connection with a separate alleged ₦36 million property fraud case.
The defendant, who appeared in court wearing a long black gown over black trousers, is standing trial over allegations relating to the property transaction.
EFCC counsel Suleiman Suleiman opposed her request to remain in the Commission’s custody, informing the court that the agency’s detention facilities were already overcrowded.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu ordered that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility pending the fulfilment of her bail conditions.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until June 22, 2026, for the continuation of trial.
News
In the impatient age of quarterly capitalism, where executives are judged by immediate returns and investors demand instant gratification, patience has become one of the rarest commodities in business. Yet patience, more than brilliance or bravado, has always distinguished the true institution-builder from the mere opportunist. Few contemporary African businessmen embody this distinction more convincingly than Tony Elumelu.
As Heirs Insurance Group marks its fifth anniversary in June 2026, the milestone is significant not merely because of the company’s rapid ascent within Nigeria’s notoriously underpenetrated insurance sector, but because its story is, fundamentally, a meditation on endurance. Behind the celebratory speeches, growth metrics and corporate accolades lies a less glamorous but more revealing reality: the operational licenses that birthed Heirs Insurance took eight years to secure. Yes, you read it correctly. Eight years.
In most corporate boardrooms, eight years of regulatory limbo would have been sufficient to extinguish enthusiasm, redirect capital elsewhere and bury the idea quietly beneath the sediment of abandoned ambitions. Yet Tony Elumelu persisted. That persistence now appears less like stubbornness and more like strategic foresight.
The launch of Heirs Insurance in 2021 alongside the commissioning of Heirs Towers was never merely the unveiling of another financial-services company. It was the extension of a wider philosophical project that has animated Elumelu’s business career for decades: the conviction that African-owned institutions can achieve scale, sophistication and competitiveness comparable to any global peer.
Today, barely five years later, Heirs Insurance serves nearly two million customers across Nigeria. The Financial Times recently ranked Heirs Life Assurance seventh and Heirs General Insurance forty-first among Africa’s fastest-growing companies, a remarkable feat in a sector that has historically struggled for relevance in Nigeria’s economic life.
The statistics become even more impressive when placed against the broader context of the Nigerian insurance industry itself. Insurance penetration in Nigeria remains below one per cent of GDP, one of the lowest rates globally. In practical terms, this means millions of Nigerians continue to rely on informal family structures, religious solidarity and personal improvisation as substitutes for formal risk protection. Insurance, for many, remains distant, misunderstood or distrusted. It is precisely this structural weakness that Heirs Insurance identified as an opportunity.
Rather than replicate the orthodox models of legacy insurers—many of which remain trapped in bureaucratic inertia and elite urban markets—the company pursued a strategy built around accessibility, technology and scale. Digital onboarding replaced cumbersome paperwork. Mobile-first products lowered entry barriers. Microinsurance products targeted demographics long ignored by traditional operators. Insurance was repositioned not as an elite financial abstraction, but as an everyday instrument of economic dignity.
This was not accidental innovation. It reflected a broader understanding of Africa’s evolving economic realities. Across the continent, formal banking, telecommunications and digital commerce have expanded most successfully where firms adapted products to local realities rather than imported rigid Western templates. Heirs Insurance belongs firmly within this new generation of African institutions that understand scale emerges not from exclusivity, but from inclusion.
Equally significant has been the ecosystem advantage engineered through Heirs Holdings itself. Cross-selling synergies involving UBA, Transcorp and Heirs Energies have accelerated customer acquisition and institutional visibility in ways standalone insurers would struggle to replicate. It is an illustration of strategic integration rarely executed successfully within African conglomerates, where diversification often degenerates into incoherence. Under Elumelu, however, the architecture appears deliberate: finance, energy, hospitality and insurance reinforcing one another within a broader continental vision.
Yet perhaps the most important aspect of the Heirs Insurance story lies not in balance sheets or rankings, but in what it reveals about Tony Elumelu’s peculiar temperament as a builder of institutions. Modern business culture frequently glorifies disruption, aggression and velocity. Elumelu’s approach has often been more measured, almost old-fashioned in its emphasis on staying power. He has long understood that enduring institutions are not constructed through viral moments, but through sustained discipline, strategic patience and reputational consistency.
This philosophy has become increasingly rare in contemporary Africa, where political instability, policy unpredictability and weak institutions often encourage short-term extraction over long-term investment. The temptation for many investors is to maximize immediate returns while minimizing exposure to systemic uncertainty. Elumelu, by contrast, has repeatedly chosen the more difficult route of institutional permanence.
The eight-year wait for licensing is therefore not a footnote to the Heirs Insurance story. It is the story. For what distinguished the venture was not merely the availability of capital, but the willingness to remain committed during prolonged uncertainty. Capital, after all, is abundant globally. Conviction is scarcer. Operational leadership from senior Heirs executives such as Niyi Onifade and Wole Fayemi has undoubtedly translated vision into execution. But execution alone does not create institutions. Institutions emerge when leadership combines operational competence with philosophical clarity about purpose and time horizon.
Elumelu’s broader advocacy for raising Nigeria’s insurance penetration to three per cent of GDP similarly reflects a strategic understanding that no company can thrive sustainably within a weak ecosystem. The ambition is not merely corporate expansion, but sectoral transformation itself. If achieved, such growth would deepen financial inclusion, expand long-term domestic capital pools and strengthen economic resilience across households and businesses alike.
At a deeper level, Heirs Insurance also represents something symbolic within the African corporate imagination. For decades, African financial sectors were dominated either by foreign multinationals or by indigenous firms constrained by insufficient scale, technological weakness or governance deficiencies. The emergence of globally competitive African-owned institutions capable of combining technological sophistication with continental ambition marks an important psychological transition.
It is this larger symbolism that makes the Heirs Insurance anniversary noteworthy beyond corporate ceremony. Five years may appear brief in the lifespan of institutions. But within those five years lies evidence of something increasingly consequential in African capitalism: the emergence of patient capital guided not merely by opportunism, but by vision. Tony Elumelu’s enduring lesson is therefore deceptively simple. Institutions are not miracles. They are acts of sustained belief.
In an era intoxicated by immediacy, Heirs Insurance stands as a reminder that the most important revolutions are often quiet ones; built patiently, painstakingly and almost stubbornly over time until what once seemed improbable becomes inevitable.
In The Spotlight
Nearly three weeks have passed since 39 schoolchildren and eight of their teachers were abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Three weeks of rain, hunger, fear, and unimaginable trauma. Three weeks of parents living in a purgatory of hope and despair. Three weeks of children sleeping on wet forest floors while their governor behaves as though time is an infinite luxury. This is not merely a failure of security. It is a failure of leadership.
Governor Seyi Makinde has responded to this crisis with a detachment so baffling, so cavalier, that it borders on dereliction of duty. At a moment when every second counts, when every drop of rain falling on those children is an indictment of the state, Makinde has chosen bureaucratic caution over moral urgency. The children are still in captivity. The governor is still dithering. And the people of Oyo are left wondering: What exactly is he waiting for?
For two weeks, hunters, traditionalists, OPC, Agbekoya, and Sunday Igboho’s network; people who know the forests, who understand the terrain, who have rescued victims before, have offered their help. They have asked for nothing but the governor’s permission so they are not later branded as “non state actors” or “bandits.” Makinde has not only refused them; he has refused to even acknowledge them. Not a meeting. Not a briefing. Not even the courtesy of a public statement.
This is the same governor who once distanced himself from Igangan’s rescue operation, only to watch as non state actors succeeded where the state failed. One would think that experience would have taught him humility. Instead, he has doubled down on a strategy of paralysis disguised as prudence. The hunters say they are ready. The OPC says it is ready. Agbekoya says it is ready. Igboho’s men say they are ready. But the governor; the one man with the constitutional authority to greenlight action is not.
Let us speak plainly. These children are not in a safe house. They are not in a guarded compound. They are in the forest, exposed to the elements, sleeping on mud, drinking whatever water they can find, and living under the psychological torture of armed captors. Every day that passes is a day of dehydration, hunger, illness, trauma and the risk of death. What is the governor’s plan? What is the strategy? Where is the urgency? The silence from Agodi is deafening.
Yes, Nigeria’s security architecture is federally controlled. Yes, state governors are constrained. But constraints are not an excuse for complacency. A responsible leader does not shrug helplessly while children are held hostage within his own state. A responsible leader does not reject help from those who know the terrain better than any police unit dispatched from Abuja. A responsible leader does not pretend that “everything is under control” when the evidence of collapse is everywhere.
In the last few days alone, there have been more kidnappings in Ibadan, more killings across the country and more evidence that criminals now operate with impunity. The truth is simple: the government has been overwhelmed. And Oyo State is not an exception; it is a symptom, but Makinde’s failure is not just tactical; it is moral. Leadership is not measured by press statements or security meetings. It is measured by the willingness to act decisively when lives hang in the balance. Makinde’s refusal to mobilize every available resource, including local actors with proven track records is not caution. It is criminal negligence. It is a betrayal of the children, their parents, and the people of Oyo State.
Nigeria’s insecurity crisis has become a political football. Ethnic blame games. Religious narratives. Partisan point scoring. Meanwhile, criminals do not ask for your tribe before abducting you. They do not check your religion before shooting. They do not care who you voted for. This is not a Fulani problem. This is not a Christian or Muslim problem. This is not a PDP or APC problem. This is a national emergency. And in Oyo State, it is a humanitarian emergency, and the Governor must act now!
Governor Makinde must authorize vetted local hunters, OPC, Agbekoya, and other community groups to join the search. He should create a joint command structure that separates genuine volunteers from charlatans, and provide logistical support to all rescue teams. Makinde should stop pretending that the current strategy is working; and demand federal reinforcement with urgency. He should prioritize the safe return of the children above all else. Nothing else matters until those children are home. The parents of Oriire do not need speeches. They do not need condolences. They do not need promises. They need their children. And the governor who swore an oath to protect them must stop hiding behind bureaucracy and start acting like the chief security officer he claims to be. History will not remember the excuses. It will remember the children, and what he did, or failed to do, to save them.
Opinions
In The Spotlight
“Thank God it is over”
“Yes oh. Now, Arsenal players and their fans can now allow all of us to rest. They have their Premier League trophy. PSG have taken the Champions League. History made on both sides. Heroes made.”
“Who is talking about Arsenal or PSG? Why is it that you, Nigerians are always so unpatriotic? Before you think of your own country, you are more concerned about what is happening in other parts of the world. When I say it is over, I am referring to the party primaries that have just been concluded in Nigeria’s political space. The INEC deadline expired on May 30.”
“Oh, I see. But it is not correct to say it is over. The correct thing to say is that Nigeria is now on a path to a new beginning, a return to high-wire politics that could have serious implications for the future. The end of the primaries is merely the commencement of warfare which Nigerian politics is.”
“Yes. Yes. I know that there will be fall-outs. After all, there have been very loud complaints about the mode of the primaries, consensus arrangements that marginalized many eligible participants and direct primaries that were openly rigged, shamelessly too. And I dare say, no party is innocent.”
“Well, well, well, I have not heard of any complaints from the African Action Congress which chose Omoyele Sowore by popular acclamation, Accord Party which announced Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) that selected former Governor Donald Duke, Governor Seyi Makinde’s Allied People’s Movement, Action Democratic Party where you have Aliyu Bin Abbas, and of course the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) which produced Peter Obi. In these parties, the choice of the flagbearers has been relatively peaceful. It is only in the APC, the PDP, and the ADC that we have had controversies.”
“Not true. There have been issues in all the parties. And this is the point that Minister Wike was making during his media chat on TV yesterday. He said those politicians in ADC and NDC who claim they know how to run Nigeria are all liars, because ordinary party primaries they could not even organize successfully.”
“Are you still taking that one serious?”
“But he has a point. No opposition party has been able to show that their party is better than the APC. We are faced with the same of the same. Wike is right to laugh at them.”
“Peter Obi, the ADC Presidential candidate has promised to generate 10, 000 MW of electricity in 4 years of the single term that he is proposing. He will also empower MSMEs and address youth unemployment. That is something different.”
‘I beg. Is power generation the problem? Electricity is a value chain. How about transmission and distribution? How about tariffs, liquidity? Leakages, wastages. And where were you when failed aspirants in the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) and the Labour Party (LP) were asking for a refund of monies paid into the party’s coffers. In Imo State, one APC aspirant wept openly and on social media claiming that he had spent over N100 million to buy forms for the House of Representatives slot only for the party to impose a woman who never bought any form. He said it will never happen.”
“Did you say an APC aspirant?”
“Yes, from Owerri”
“If he knows what is good for him, he will keep quiet and sulk in silence. The ticket belongs to the party. Even the aspirant that challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the APC Presidential ticket is now singing his praise. And what does your Imo friend want the 14 lawmakers in the Lagos State House of Assembly who have been sent away to do, and all the Ministers who resigned their positions to run for one elective office or the other. Maybe only one of them succeeded. The Godfather system that they run in the APC simply means you have to obey and accept whatever you are given by the powers-that-be.”
“But that is not democracy. That is tyranny.”
“Who told you there is a universal model of democracy?”
“There are principles.”
“I know. Take the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) founded by countryman Senator Seriake Dickson. The party is now the beautiful bride. That is why Peter Obi and Dr Kwankwaso left the ADC and ran there.”
“Wike says Peter Obi is a food-is-ready politician! He will run to any party that others have worked hard to build.”
“Don’t mind him. They are all the same. What I am saying is that for you to join the NDC, you have to go to Seriake Dickson’s house. To get an expression of interest form, you also have to go to his house. Major meetings are also held in his house, except may be the party’s convention and that must have been due to reasons of space. That too is democracy. And look at Wike. He gave a directive to events owners and hoteliers in Abuja not to allow any “illegal political groups” to use their premises, otherwise their licenses and land titles will be revoked. The David Mark faction of the ADC fought back but the Turaki faction of the PDP ended up holding their event at an open field. I guess that too is democracy.”
“No, that is against the principles of fair play and equal access. But what do you think will happen now?”
“To be honest, I see a lot of confusion. So much uncertainty. Out of 22 registered political parties, only 11 have announced their Presidential candidates. I doubt if anyone has made any submissions to INEC
by the deadline of May 30. The deadline for moving from one political party to the other was set at May 10. Long after that deadline, we have now seen politicians moving from one party to the other. Babachir Lawal for example has dumped the ADC. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has moved out of the APC in protest to join the NDC.”
“I believe this is because of the two conflicting judgements in the Federal High Court. Abuja Division. Youth Party vs INEC by Justice Mohammed Umar and SDP vs INEC by Justice James Omotoso. INEC has since gone to the Court of Appeal and has applied for a stay of execution. Meanwhile, everything is in abeyance. Even the lawyers are taking one side or the other, offering conflicting interpretations.”
“Whether we like it or not, Nigeria’s 2027 general elections will be determined by the courts, not by the voters. Look at the confusion in the parties, especially the ADC which has three factions, three Presidential candidates – the Nafiu Bala Gombe faction with Chris Uba, the Kachikwu faction with Dumebi Kachikwu and the David Mark-led faction with Atiku Abubakar. Then the PDP with two factions, two Presidential candidates – the Wike faction with Senator Sandy Onor and the Kabiru Turaki faction with President Goodluck Jonathan.”
“I don’t even understand why President Jonathan will allow anybody to drag him into this state of confusion. He is an international statesman. He is a man of stature, widely respected locally and internationally. He should stay above partisan politics.”
“Wike says nobody drags anybody into politics. It is only when you show interest that people will come and offer you what they think you want.”
“The way you keep quoting Wike this, Wike that, I hope there is nothing. You better don’t waste your time. Wike no send anybody oh. But I agree with you on President Jonathan. He is legally eligible, constitutionally and by all means as recently decided by the Federal High Court of Justice Peter Lifu. But it is not advisable for him to get involved in the PDP crisis. There are two Federal High Court cases in contention: the Court of Justice Uche Agomoh in the Ibadan Division, and the court of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik at the Abuja Division on the basis of which INEC recognized the Wike faction. Wike served President Jonathan as Minister of State over 10 years ago. No. No. No. He cannot be seen to be dragging anything with his own subordinates. He is too distinguished for that.”
“But in the United States, President Trump left office and he still came back and was re-elected. In Ghana, President Mahama left and returned.”
“The situations are not so similar. President Tinubu vs President Jonathan. It will look too messy. It will be too complicated. There is also the constraint of time. We are just about seven months to the elections. Not enough time to mobilize.”
“I think that there is even more than enough time. With the right momentum, 24 hours is a long time in politics. I imagine that with the seven months gap ahead, many politicians will even run out of cash. Many will sell their grandparents homes to keep up with the unrelenting pressure of campaigns and politicking. I even hear that it is Tinubu sponsoring Jonathan. But if I were President Jonathan, and I want to dare everything, I will choose a man like Nasir El-Rufai as my running mate.”
“Stop making suggestions that will not work and do not make sense. Why would President Jonathan want to dare everything? He is not that kind of person. He will not do anything to disorient the country because of personal ambition. He is a leader, not a food-is-ready politician.”
“Then let him issue a strongly worded statement to dissociate himself from partisan politics. No, thank you are three simple words in English. Let him come and say that he is not running for office in 2027.”
“Okay then, let us just sit down and look. But by the way, did you go to Ijebu Ode for the Ojude Oba after Sallah?”
“No. But I followed everything on social media. Very impressive as usual. The colour. The Equestrian displays, the pageantry and the paraphernalia, even in the absence of the Awujale. I like the fact that the festival is community-based and family-based as well and many families stood up to be counted: the Adesoyes, the Kukus, the Adeshiles, the Ashirus, and there was enough space for the traditional societies, the Regberegbes to promote Ijebu nationalism. The good thing is that other Ijebu communities are beginning to have similar celebrations: in Ososa, Ijebu Igbo, and Ago-Iwoye for example. Nigerians have a way of stealing laughter from the jaws of despair. Think of the Durbar in Ilorin and the Bariki Sallah celebration in Bida All good.”
“I also enjoyed the Ojude Oba, I liked seeing the King of Steeze, Farooq Oreagba and his son in action. But what I could not figure out was one woman who showed up this year, Toyin Olushile, whom they called the Queen of Steeze, all the way from New York City. She had a big tobacco pipe in her mouth and she was puffing smoke into the air like a locomotive train. I did not find that funny. The Ojude Oba should not be used to promote smoking of any type. There are children involved and they are watching.”
“Well, it was all part of the show. But talking about children, this past weekend was a sad one for me.”
“Me too. I watched the video of Mrs Alamu pleading for help, from captivity, and my heart sank. I saw her husband, a Professor, kneeling down and pleading with the Oyo State Government to do something to rescue all the 46 children and teachers in captivity, and I felt for him. In Borno state, Askira Uba Local Government, 45 students were also abducted. Same day, May 15, in the same coordinated fashion. Something sinister is happening.”
“Governor Seyi Makinde has tried. He went to the community to empathise with the people. The Federal Government has also sent a delegation. What I do not understand is why the state and the Federal Government had to respond separately. They could have co-ordinated their efforts. Nobody should play partisan politics with human lives. Governor Makinde went to the community on Saturday. The Federal Government delegation showed up on Sunday in a helicopter. The politics was too obvious.”
“Yes. Both the states and the Federal Government should always work together. Human lives are at stake in Oyo, in Borno and other parts of the country.”
“I really couldn’t enjoy the UCL Champions League final.”
“Forget about Champions League. The Super Eagles were playing in the Unity Cup finals against Jamaica at the Valley Stadium in London, the same day. They defeated Jamaica, 4 -0. You are here talking about Arsenal and PSG.”
“Congratulations to the Super Eagles. Gunners ForEver!”
“How about Enugu Rangers?”.
“Rangerrs. Who are they?”
“They won the Nigerian Football League.”
“Oh. Sorry. Never heard of them.”
“Of course”.