Month: July 2025

The Fulani are the problem of Nigeria. They got to this preeminent position by subjugating the Hausa that they colonized. The Fulani are colonizers. They did what every colonizer did. They torture and subjugate the indigenous people and teach them to hate themselves and their neighbors. They dominate by killing the Hausa kings and forcing them to adopt the Fulani way of life which is Islam. This is the violent process that is part of the colonizing culture. Violence is always needed for colonization. The British used this method efficiently in their colonies. The case of the Fulani in Nigeria is similar to apartheid South Africa because the White minority like the Fulani never left. Since everyone is black in Northern Nigeria, the apartheid there is invisible and additionally hidden by the cloak of religious gobbledygook. As a stealth move, they did not impose their language on the indigenous population. Conflict avoided. They solidified the North with the Hausa language and their religion while stamping out the indigenous culture. Violence is always the weapon of the colonizers, and they have no scruples when killing in the name of their God. None of the gains and dominance of the Fulani was achieved in a peaceful democratic manner. Democracy is antithetical to a colonialist instinct. This is why the Fulani continue to use violence as a tool of politics in Nigeria. They are the colonialists, and they don’t see themselves having anything in common with the indigenous people of Nigeria. They use the indigenous population as canon folders. Until they are countered, they will always use violence as a means of statecraft. They see themselves as the law and have the right to use violence, chaos and insecurity to their advantage. They always use proxies as the vanguard of their campaign. When the First Republic was toppled, they regretted not doing it first. After that, no one will beat them to it. Since then, they have used the military to achieve their ends in Nigeria. They seized those moments of calamity and turned it back to their advantage. They used Yakubu Gowon. After opposing the unitary system imposed by Aguyi Ironsi, they accepted it and perfected it to their advantage and created more confusion by creating more states and more centralization of power which they were in control of. When Murtala Mohammed was eliminated, they settled for Olusegun Obasanjo. He has been a gift to the Fulani. Under him, a Land Use decree which was a prelude to RUGA was passed. This decree made Fulani who are non-indigenous Nigerians to seize land from Hausa and other indigenous people of the North. They did this through the suppression of the indigenous people with executive lawlessness and brigandage which is still going on in the North. Under this decree they acquired lands that have precious metals in the North and started mining these metals privately. They used the monies gained here to start militias in the North of the country. It is these militias that later metamorphosed into various terrorist groups in the North and other parts of the Sahel. The Fulani have a large war chest to prosecute low intensity insecurity when government policies are not in their favour. They also used money for the propagation of Islam in order to make their struggle international. The Fulani are not really a religious people. They use religion for their political advancement. Through their Emirate System, their tentacles spread so far down South as Kwara State. There is no history of a non-Fulani who is an Emir. It is a closed system. To be an Emir, you have to be a Fulani and a Muslim and speak their language which is not Hausa. They are closely linked. They intermarry. They are one big family by blood. Throughout the reign of Buhari, Atiku never altered any word because he is family . People accuse Buhari of filling every position with Fulani. They are wrong. Buhari filled every government position with his family members. They have the secrecy code of an organized criminal syndicate. Their nomadic instincts make them thrive advantageously in periods of national strife and chaos. None of the advancement and wealth that they have accumulated was achieved in times of democratic harmony or peace. From the aforesaid, it can be assumed that it is not in their interest to foster peace and unity. They have come to understand that the rest of Nigeria especially the South have qualms about shedding innocent blood and they seize on this weakness to sow fear. When we lament the death of Deborah Samson, they celebrate it because it is a warning that they could go further. They directly tell us that they will do anything to maintain their preeminent position in Nigeria. The various military coups and regimes in Nigeria were orchestrated by the Fulani and they benefited from them immensely. With an avalanche of oil money, they can use it to buy government officials who are non-Fulani and propagate their brand of Wahhabi Islam. Under the military, they dragged Nigeria to be a member of OIC. Under the military, they added Sharia to the Constitution of a multiethnic and multi religious country. Under the military, they produced a Constitution that has “No Go areas “called exclusive, legislative list. This list contains everything necessary for human development. Under General Obasanjo, they declared Sharia in their states because they know Obasanjo does not have the gumption to point out this unconstitutionality. Now they are emboldened to push Sharia further south. Their impunity is overwhelming. They are taking small incremental steps in turning Nigeria from a secular state to an Islamic state without the consent of the citizens. This is why they have been sponsoring low intensity conflict within Nigeria. The insecurity that abounds is nurtured by them so Nigerians can flee their homes, and their governments will reassign the land to them. The insecurity is also used to scare Southern youths and intellectuals to embark on the Japa

How should a king react to an in-your-face abuse by his son’s schoolmate? An altercation on a football field led to a physical engagement between two schoolboys: one a prince; the other sired by a poor farmer. The one who was farmer-born was dexterous in (eke) wrestling. He had the upper hand in the fight; threw the prince a couple of times and enjoyed himself, beating the hell out of him. Other friends stepped in and separated the combatants. But it didn’t end there. The prince instantly became the butt of the jokes by the others on their way home. Most boys do that, you know. The path to the community runs in front of the palace. The prince walked slowly and deliberately. But as soon as the boisterous group entered the palace precinct, the prince regained his mojo, his boldness and confidence. He hurled curses at his opponent, who remained calm, aware that the king was watching from the palace balcony, flanked by a few chiefs. Sighting his father, the king, the prince did the unthinkable. He walked up to his opponent and uttered the following words in his Ekiti dialect: “Ayé ùba re hí a dáa (may it not be well with your father)! The son of the farmer stopped in his tracks. The party became silent. Kabiyesi and his chiefs heard the prince clearly. They waited in suspended breath to see what the other boy would do or say. They did not have to wait for a long time. The boy looked up to Kabiyesi on the balcony, and at the prince. Then he pointed at the king and told the prince: “Sé òrúba re -mentioned the title of the king – kì mì o o, ayé rè hí a dáa (you see this your father I am looking at; it will not be well with him)!” Silence! What did the king do? On hearing what the boy said, Kabiyesi first restrained his palace guards from acting. He ordered the children to be brought to the palace. He descended the stairs, followed by his chiefs and the palace griot chanting his praises. The king asked the two combatants to relay what happened. He got corroborations from the other students. Then he made his pronouncement. The Oba asked a palace guard to get a cane. Done. He ordered two more guards to stretch out the prince, the naughty way rascals are stretched out for punishment. Then without counting, the king asked the palace guard holding the cane to do justice to the buttocks of the prince with the cane. He resisted the pleas from his chiefs. The Olori, mother of the prince, dared not venture into the open space. Satisfied that enough strokes of the cane had been donated to the prince, Kabiyesi stopped the guard. He lectured the children on why they should not fight, and if they must, why they must never extend their vituperations to the parents of their opponents. Did the message sink? The prince in this story is a judge of a High Court of Justice today. The farmer’s son is a successful businessman and a big farmer too! Are they still friends? I will find out! The children prostrated. The son of the farmer offered apologies for what he said. Kabiyesi responded that he did the right thing by defending himself against the prince. He dismissed the party. The news travelled fast. The farmer gathered relations and the elders of his clan. They went back to the palace to beg the king. They brought gifts, farm produce to appease the Oba. Kabiyesi would have none of those. The king insisted that the boy did no wrong by cursing back at the prince. He asked the farmer if he would be happy if his child had come back home to say that the prince cursed him (father) but he (child) could not retaliate because his opponent’s father was a king. The farmer answered in the negative. Kabiyesi said he would feel the same way if it had happened to the prince. Then he dropped the moral of the incident to wit: children must be trained so well so that if the parents looked back in their hereafter, they would be proud of the children’s conducts! Children upbringing in Yoruba emphasises character (ìwà). From the cradle, children are moulded to be of good conduct (behaviour) and the pride of the family. A child is beautiful only if he has good character (ìwà lewà). Yoruba also categorise character. There is a type called ìwà abínibí (congenital character), which is hereditary or one that easily depicts a family a child comes from. If it is good, the family source can be identified; likewise, if it is otherwise. There is also ìwà àtowádá (a character trait a child develops by himself). Modern sociologists trace this type of character to so many things with the influence of peer groups being the most visible culprit. No matter the fine upbringing a child had, if he gets involved in a negative peer group activity, such a child could derail. Another category is iwa atúnraenibí (reenactment of one’s congenital character). A child with this type of character trait is rated as the best. This is the type of child who is conscious of his enviable background and takes steps to preserve the good name, the family pride and heritage. He is the type that is always conscious that he cannot behave contrary to his solid upbringing. In this case, the name of the family counts, what others would say about him, and his background comes into play and thus, the child remains within acceptable boundaries. This, to a greater extent, births the saying: resemblance depicts ancestry (àbíjo làá mo ìran). But a caveat here is necessary. That a child behaves badly or turns out to be a miserable, terrible adult does not mean that such a child was not nurtured very well. A parent can be lucky to have a

…An Open Petition to NSA, DSS, Police and Other Security Agencies By Sebastine Ebhuomhan   Saturday, 26th July, 2025. Abuja. All is not well in the camp of the former governor of Anambra State and ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, whose criminal supporters have made my phone line, social media walls and threads their home, threatening my life for supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Monday Okpebholo as well as the All Progressives Congress (APC). Their calls and messages are clear breaches of my constitutional rights to speech and association factually, accurately and ethically expressed in support of the Tinubu and Okpebholo administrations and exposition of Mr. Obi’s hypocrisy, lies, blackmail and desperation for power. President Tinubu, Governor Okpebholo, the Federal Government, the Edo State Government, the National Security Adviser, the Director-General of the Department of State Services and the Inspector-General of Nigeria Police Force are hereby notified of the threats to my life from Obi’s supporters, agents, cohorts, collaborators and accomplices since I published a report titled, In Defence of Edo State Governor: Okpebholo said nothing that Obi hasn’t done before; on Sunday, July 20th, 2025. Since then, I have received many calls, messages and chats. For brevity, I will pick three of the threats: a telephone call, a text message, and a chat. At 5.50pm On Monday, I received a call from 09166539242. A male voice threatened, “I have read what you wrote for your governor against Peter Obi. I want to tell you that you are one of the problems of this country that we will deal with. I want to let you know that wherever you are, hands will touch you. That place that you are now, hands will soon touch you. I swear,” he switched-off as I made to engage him. A search would later reveal the owner of the phone SIM to be one Ugwu Kelechi Ratzinger, who I suspected to be a software engineer. I texted him later. “Ugwu Kelechi Ratzinger, you dared threaten my life for writing truth about Peter Obi? I’m sure you’re related to Rev David Ugwu, who’ll not be happy about your criminality. Be sure I’ll handle your threat.” He is yet to reply. One of the text messages I received came from 08066954034 at 7.52pm on Sunday. The text message threatened: “Idiot. So, you even had the guts to put your phone number in that trash you wrote defending your illiterate governor for his public relations blunder against Peter Obi.” At 3.45pm on Monday, I called the line twice. It rang. Possibly unaware, the owner called back. When I introduced myself, he dropped the call. Never picked again. My search would later reveal his identity as Ifeanyi Nnadi, alias Splendid Height. I texted him. “Ifeanyi Nnadi, you’re a purported man of the law. Is that the criminal way you practice your law and support your Peter Obi? I’m waiting for your reply before…” Yet to reply, too. A native of Nnewi, Anambra State, a graduate of Usmanu Danfodio University, and married with three children (photo attached), Mr. Nnadi is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He is the Principal Partner at Ifeanyi Nnadi & Company. He is suspected to be one of those coordinating for Obi in Sokoto State. Another particular caller called three times with 08023404042. Unpicked, he followed up with chats. He acknowledged reading my reports in Lagos where he lives. He said he has a problem with APC and the Tinubu government that I support for which reason he would like to meet me anywhere in the country. Although he did not disclose his name, he claimed to be a Delta State indigene, an ex-staff of the National Population Census and a senior citizen. After pestling him, he gave his name as Anthony Azuka Chukwurah. But my search revealed the phone line is registered to Godhead Ekwueme. I have tentatively fixed our meeting for August. Further checks revealed they are members of the Obidient Movement, Obi’s political pressure group of ethnic chauvinists, socio-political dogmas, religious fanatics and violent mob yoked together and propelled by the adrenalin of their common hatred for Nigeria and Nigerians not supporting Obi’s desperation for Nigerian presidential power. It remains unclear if the threats are random or coordinated. But unknown criminal(s) unsuccessfully hacked my account last month. Obi wants to resolve the biggest problems of Nigeria as president. But his ‘party-less’ condition following his inability to reconcile his factional party has made him an object of derision; unsettled, disorganised and confused. Recent revelation of his disqualification by the ADC constitution has increased his dilemma. Without informing, acknowledging or calling on Edo State governor as lawful protocol demands of a very important personality or political leader, Obi sneaked into the state on Friday, 7th July, 2025, to donate N15 million to the Saint Philomena Hospital School of Nursing Sciences as part of his 2027 election socio-political visitations. The donation spiked violence and deaths after his departure and prompted a security advisory from Governor Okpebholo, who requested prior information from Obi whenever he is visiting Edo State again in order to guarantee his security as a guest and prevent future occurrence. Senator Okpebholo’s demand for Obi to respect the lawful protocol he enjoyed for eight years as Anambra State governor had drawn his supporters’ ire. They have now literarily thrown caution to the winds, targeting, threatening and attacking perceived political enemies, the very ills they claimed to be fighting. They have started serving non-supporters of Obi bitter doses of what to expect from a Peter Obi presidency, if he mistakenly assumes power. It is a security fact that for an Edo State battling cultism and cult-related violence, missionary schools and convents have become the targets of kidnappers and bandits in recent times. The armed criminals believe the leaders and followers of such religious institutions have the wealth to pay ransoms. It is also a fact that Obi visited St. Philomena with the fanfare, razzmatazz and blitz

  BY DR AUSTIN ORETTE The Problem of Nigeria is the Fulani. Solving this problem is the beginning of a new Nigeria. This is why every Southerner and Middle belt citizen must take a stand against Fulani colonization. The Fulani people are very retrogressive. Lord Lugard in his memoirs refers to them as fatalistic people without any ideals. He cautioned that these people are severely diseased and any society attached to them will never see any progress and will live to regret it. Nigerians are in a serious state of national regret because of this ethnic and theocratic minority. All the indices of misery in the North which the Fulani colonized through theocratic subterfuge are stratospheric. The Fulani people have been running apartheid system in Northern Nigeria, using the Hausas as door mats. These are people who want leadership without any responsibility.   For too long, they took Nigeria for a ride by grafting themselves to the Hausas that they are oppressing. Throughout the Sahel, the Fulani who is a nomad has no reputable domicile. They are not in charge of their homestead in the Senegambia and Futa Jalon. They were never tolerated there hence Usman Dan Fodio left with his zealots for greener pastures. Since their conquest of the Hausa kingdoms in the North, they have been on a race back to the first century. The fifty years that their armies ruled Nigeria has always been a journey to yesterday with theocratic decrees. They ruled Nigeria for fifty years and the most ignorant, stupid and parasitic people are from the North. It is okay to dominate with knowledge and technology. The only thing these brutes gave to the north is sharia education. The whole North has been turned into a domicile of religious bigotry and Muslim terrorists. No people with this kind of bankrupt mentality should be allowed access to power in a modern state. We are in an era where people in other climes are talking of quantum computing and these theocratic Fulani people tell the Hausas that the best education is memorizing the Quran and it is okay to kill anyone who disagrees with their medieval incantations. They send their own children to the best schools with stolen money from Nigeria. This is odious. There is nothing the Fulani people achieved in Nigeria that is based on merit. Recently about a thousand Fulani people who have no basic education were flushed out of high position in the Nigerian Central bank. A people less than ten percent of the population of Nigeria with no skill and education are over represented in every major Nigerian ministries and parastatals. They have corrupted the judiciary and made Nigeria a lawless society. No Fulani got anything in Nigeria by merit. Whatever wealth they have were bestowed on them by the Fulani military that ran Nigeria aground. They are not religious people. They use religion to create the subterfuge necessary for the enthronement of their mediocrity. What kind of people will ask for a naval headquarters in a desert terrain? This is not the mindset that can build or develop any nation. This is why I ask every Nigerian to understand that all the economic and security issues in Nigeria today are created by the Fulani. They are nomadic people and they use subterfuge and entropy to make advancement. These are deliberate ploys to make educated southerners to subscribe to the Japa syndrome perennially and thin the army of the opposing camp. They use religious gobbledygook to recruit the people they deliberately kept ignorant. This is the time to stop them and save the nation. All the issues that are plaguing Nigeria today is caused by the Fulani people. Late Muhammadu Buhari was president for eight years and did nothing about security or the economy because it was not in the interest of the Fulani. He used Nigerian money to construct a rail to Niger Republic. This is who they are. We must stop them and make them understand they don’t own Nigeria. This is why we must curtail their influence that is out of proportion to their numbers, education and technological know-how. They took Nigeria into OIC and smuggled Sharia into a constitution of a multiethnic and multi religious nation. This is sacrilegious and beyond pardon. The British colonized Nigeria and left. The Fulani people colonized the North and never left. It is time to disband their apartheid regime in the North. All Southerners must unite on this. An enlightened leadership can never emerge in Nigeria if the Fulani problem is not solved. This is a task that must be done. We must make this their last Jihad.   DR AUSTIN ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS

  On June 24, 2025, when I wrote the column: “Recommending Oba Erediauwa to President Tinubu”, this is the response I got from one of the Benin Palace functionaries: “Making mention of the year Oba Erediauwa reigned on the throne of his forebears is okay but making mention of the year ancestors were born whether accurate or inaccurate is a taboo in Benin. It’s a red flag. Thanks for espousing the past Oba’s good deeds. Thank u sir for your insight.” How the Benin people hold on to their tradition, especially the sanctity and invincibility of the Benin throne baffles me. In my Yorubaland, it is a different ball game. The Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Ogbagba II, died on Sunday, July 13, 2025. The Awujale died? That statement itself remains eternally sacrilegious! Awujale cannot die. Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Ogbagba II can die and be buried, but the Awujale remains till the end of humanity! If not for ‘civilisation’ itself, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona Ogbagba II cannot die or cannot be said to have died. Obas don’t die in Yorubaland. They simply go to sleep, or change form (pa ipò dà), or their pillar (pole) simply shifts (òpó yè) or goes to the rafters (oba w’ájà). Unfortunately, we are in the era of ‘civilisation’. Virtually every headline which announced the transition of the foremost traditional ruler read: “Awujale of Ijebuland, Adetona, dies at 91.” I felt sad reading the different accounts of the passing of the Awujale on the pages of newspapers and on the internet. We know that with the advancement of social media and the rest of them, it will be difficult to keep such news from the public domain. The feat, however, I dare say here, is doable. Anyone who doubts this can avail us with how many traditional and social media reported the transition of the Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa, Oba of Benin, in 2016? It was an incident discussed in hushed tones until all the traditional rites of passage were fulfilled and the Benin Traditional Council (BTC) ‘broke’ the news to the world. Let me quickly make these two confessions. I am an unapologetic purist on matters of Yoruba tradition. I also subscribe, and very strongly too, to Yoruba cultural Renaissance. I make no bones about these two attitudes. My calling as a Christian has no influence whatsoever on these two stances. Any confusion? Can I lay claim to Yoruba tradition and still profess Christianity? My answer is as written in the Holy Writ: Mark 12:17. Check it out. Nature has been very kind to me. It allowed me to spend a good number of my formative years in the countryside. I witnessed a lot of events far above my age almost from my cradle. I was also inquisitive as a child. I asked questions and got answers to my enquiries. Curiosity equally made me to be part of certain happenings as a child. I mean events that could have, if not for Providence, caused me irreparable damage. I survived the risks and learnt good lessons. I got severely reprimanded on some occasions, and appropriate propitiations had to be made to the offended quarters on several other instances. Though on the escarp of rascally tendencies, I was still within permissible limits. The gains of those years and events are the pride I have today to be able to differentiate between tradition and fatuity; between abomination (èèwò) and ‘civilisation’ (òlàjú). I also know, with recent developments in Yorubaland, that in not too long a future, the abominations we are piling up in the name of ‘modernity’ or ‘civilisation’ would lead to the extinction of our values as a race. That day is near when the traditional values that make us descendants of Oduduwa will be no more! This is not a curse. There are two stories about two Yoruba obas that will probably go down with me to my grave. The two obas were or are appreciably close to me. One of them now belongs to the ages and the other still on the throne of his forebears. May the King’s horse graze long (kí eshin oba je oko pé), Àse! The two stories speak to the heart of the Yoruba kingship tradition, rites of ascension and passage, and the ethos and sanctity of the crown. Pity I dare not tell them openly here! The headline above is a poser. I add yet another one to wit: Does tradition change? Before we answer this, can we ask: What is tradition all about? The simplest definition of tradition is that it is a concept embodying the customs, beliefs, ways and communal life of a people passed or transmitted from one generation to the other. This definition, a mixture of different definitions, presupposes that tradition is sacrosanct, inviolable, constant and one that comes with repercussions when observed in the breach. No doubt, this assertion can only make sense to my fellow ‘Ara-Ilu-Oke (people from the countryside). Let us answer the question on whether tradition changes or not. The simple response from this end is that tradition doesn’t change. What changes is the people that practise or observe any given tradition. They change as time changes. For instance, there is a tradition that is universal to humanity, the gender tradition. Irrespective of the place of birth, a child is either given birth to as a male or a female. Why is the issue of gender generating controversy now all over the world? Or why, for example, is the African continent resisting the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Question+) concept? The answer is here. The tradition of humanity is that human beings are created in the structuralist lens of binary opposition of plus (+) male and minus (-) female. Any departure from that tradition is an abnormality. While the times we are in have changed considerably, ‘civilisation’ crept in and ‘modernity’ has taken the lead in our outlook, the