Month: August 2025

    After settling KWAM 1 with ambassadorial epaulettes, it appears that National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) President, MC Oluomo, is next to receive Baba’s blessings. With the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting last week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be building six motor parks (aka bus terminals) across the country. Our President is a personality prone to hilarious performances. He has introduced another phony enterprise into the business of state with the planned ‘Modern Bus Terminals’ in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Please pay attention to the qualifier, ‘modern’ because what follows is pure superlative! When the government is deliberate in its dictions, using adjectives to qualify its head words, you should know that it has something up its sleeves. The motor parks are evenly distributed this time around. The ‘dot on the map’ zone got its own fair share. There is no ojooro, no magomago, no wuruwuru! The principle of ‘Federal Character’ is at its best element. There will be one bus terminal in Kano. That will take care of the seven states in the North-West. One will be in Gombe for the six states of North-East. The Confluence Town, Lokoja, Kogi State will have one for the entire people of the North-Central zone. Down South, Abeokuta, Ogun State, will have one for all the children of Oduduwa in the South-West. The Ndigbo will all travel to the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State, to enjoy the proposed state-of-the-art bus terminal. The oil-rich Niger Delta is taken care of, also. Their motor park is going to be tucked in the belly of Ewu in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo State. Never mind the distance; never bother about the 9.3 hours travelling hours between Sokoto and Kano; a mere 537-kilometre distance. The government has the magic wand to bridge the gap and extend the dividends of the bus terminals to everybody. Fela Anikulapo Kuti called it “government magic”! This government works wonders! Ógbenután! Now the main gist. Each motor park, the government said, would cost ₦23.6 billion. Please don’t shout! Yes, the bus terminals will be built with bricks and mortar. It will merely cost the country an arm, a leg and several pints of blood. That is not too much of a pain to inflict by a government that is far away from reality! But the beauty of it all is that the bus terminals will be beautifully decorated and equipped with world-class facilities and equipment. When completed, Angels would no longer want to fly. Our Celestial brethren will travel our roads with us. That itself gives us peace of mind. Nothing can be safer than to be in the same bus with the Angels, the Malaikas and the principalities in high places! We are lucky folks, aren’t we? No sarcasm is intended. Methinks that every Nigerian that will commence and terminate his or her journey at the bus terminals (please add modern), is guaranteed of his or her safety. How? Aso Rock Villa will be able to monitor every vehicle that leaves each of the bus terminals (or is it bus stop sef?). I put my shirt on it! It is a sure banker! A ₦23.6 billion bus terminal must have security gadgets that should be able to monitor our present, our progress and our future! If it is otherwise, then it is a waste of resources, and President Tinubu blocks wastages! Nigeria is an ojúmó kan, àrà kan (one day, one stunt) country. We don’t run out of damfool ideas here. The only thing in short supply is a leadership with depth. A complacent followership equally promotes inept leadership. We are gradually gravitating towards the precipice of a failed nation. Many people believe we are already one! President Tinubu may end up the luckiest president by the time he completes his tour of duty. He is one president who treats the country like his personal estate. And he gets away with it, all the time. Nobody questions him, nobody interrogates his policies. Nobody has the temerity to say: “Baba Seyi, you are not fair to us.” In Aso Rock Villa, where he lives at our expense, Tinubu marks off the number of the strokes he has administered to our backs. Then, he takes his champagne. Or is it freshly tapped palm wine? He asks the boys to go back to procure more canes for future flogging. We are completely pummelled! How does he do that; how does he achieve that total appropriation of the people’s resilience? We simply swallow whatever pill the President forces down our throats. We agonise like the proverbial woman being pleasured by a man with a big phallus. And nothing more. She merely waits in palpable trepidation for the next round of tortuous grinding. Nigerians have been conditioned to be perpetually complacent by a government that trades in poverty and profits by inflicting pain! We blech. We stretch. We look for any available pillow to rest our weary heads. Then we wait for the next round of dosage. Our ruiners of this epoch are not just mean, wicked and audacious; they are inorganic, pathologically cold-blooded! That the Tinubu administration is heavily transactional is no longer ‘a topic for future symposium’ (apologies to Fela). That itself is not the real problem, not the real bad case, here. The brazen way the administration goes about its Mr-Giwa-is-a-trader activities is the most irritating. The citizenry appears completely battered such that not a whimper is heard from them anytime the government comes up with its nothing-go-happen policies. By the approval given by the FEC last Wednesday, the six motor parks, colourfully presented to us as “Modern Bus Terminals’, will be built for the sum of ₦142,028,576,008.17. Nigeria’s FEC is the gathering of all ministers and any appointee of cabinet rank. Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, the Minister of Transportation, told us FEC approved the project. By simple Arithmetic formula of Division, the cost of each terminal is

  Empirical observations have led me to the notion that, in any society, the proponents of separatism are those who are least developed in consciousness.   When the American South decided to secede, they were more backward and still relied on slavery for their economic progress. They believed subterfuge to exist.   When a child is born, he clings to his mother. As the child grows, he recognizes his relatives, his village, his clan and his tribe. More growth prepares him to interact with other people who are different from him.   The ability to negotiate these intricacies is what we call development. Some groups want to negotiate these interactions with subterfuge, domination and oppression. It takes love and imagination to navigate the intricacies of these interactions to avoid creating animosities.   In our present world, the Europeans used violence and oppression to do these interactions. These led to slavery, racism, apartheid and colonization that we are still dealing with today.   It is a sign of immaturity when people cannot get along with others for mutual coexistence. The white people invented racism for this because they lack the ability and maturity to get along with other people.   Apartheid, colonialism and other attendant evils are the results of the immaturity of the white race which they consider as progress and development. But this is a form of immaturity, because it shows the inability to evolve and interact. In Africa we call it tribalism.   Racism and tribalism are nothing but the inability to grow. When people lack the ability to interact with others, they engage in ethnic reductism. This immaturity is what is considered as progress. In actuality; this represents the child who is afraid to go beyond the city limit. It is a mark of inferiority if you have the need to regale others with your superiority.   We need to grow beyond the confines of our tribe. The earth is our garden. True bravery is when we develop the ability to go beyond our tribes to engage other children of God in planting love in this great garden. Love breeds this courage. The lack of love leads to recessions into a familiar abode where our tribe becomes supreme. We become selfish. This lack deprives us of the courage to interact. We become arrested in a primitive state where it becomes difficult to move beyond the walls of the cave. This puts us in a state of psychological retardation. When perchance, we venture out, we are timid and crude and look at every difference as threatening. We raise our guards to police the fear within. We then succumb to the primitive notion that only dwellers in our cave are worthy of consideration. We become loud and vexatious as we try to prove that all the wisdom of God are bestowed on our tribe. We make it difficult for others to live peaceably with us as we tell them we are the chosen ones who are divinely ordained.   The truth is that we are still that child that refuses to grow up and wants to solve every problem with tantrum and subterfuge.   When others push back against our itinerant actions, we stamp them with epithets. We tell the world they are jealous. The truth is that this belligerent child is afraid of its underdevelopment and cannot see beyond his village. He will use any opportunity he gets to hurt others by fortifying himself with members of his clan who are ensconced in primitive materialism, that we have made the definition of our existence. . This is the origin of all our ills.   Racism, tribalism and separatism are considered as progress and civilization, by the practitioners. This is the great illusion of our time. Most apostles of separatism lack the ability to form the common bond that is necessary for progress. They lack love which is the glue that is necessary for any relationship to yield progress. In every situation, they will present mediocrity as progress. When they fail, they use their brute ideology to rewrite history and create a tyranny within. The tribalist or racist has the ethos of a cave dweller. His vision cannot extrapolate beyond the walls of the cave. He finds his security only amongst members of his cave (tribe). Recession to the cave becomes his idea of progress. He may occupy a high station, but he still has the aroma of the cave dweller.   Dr Austin Orette writes from Houston Texas

It is a rare quality to possess a personality that captivates the attention and goodwill of members of staff who work under any Chief Executive in organisations, be they public or private. The Managing Director of the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Engr. Umar Ahmed Farouk by all standards, seems to enjoy such privilege, having been widely accepted and commended by all departments in the agency since he assumed office on December 13, 2023. For Farouk Umar, the allure of his name and his professional demeanour distinguish him as a unique aviator with a wealth of technical knowledge and experience. He has been in the system, knows the system and is now recalibrating the system rapidly. In an era when communication in Nigerian Airspace was almost being interrogated, Farouk came in boldly and in the past 18 months, the NAMA boss has continuously focused on improving communication in Nigerian airspace, enhancing safety standards, and addressing power challenges within the agency. This bold steps have contributed in no little measure, to modernise the country’s airspace communication architecture under the current leadership. Welfare It would be recalled that few months after resumption, the Chief Executive paid serious attention to the NAMA workers condition of service with special focus on their wages and salaries, a feat which the members of staff considered as unprecedented and highly commendable. As it is, NAMA members of staff are happier with the new welfare package regime under Farouk’s watch. Since his first few months in office, staff welfare has always been a key priority for the MD . As an insider, he quickly recognised that long-standing issues like unpaid housing arrears, relocation allowances, and stagnated promotions were affecting morale and productivity. Despite huge debts owed by some airlines, Farouk took deliberate and drastic steps to improve things in NAMA. Beyond economic gains, Farouk has instituted an effective leadership framework, where concerns can be raised without fear, ultimately ensuring safety is a core value and not just a compliance effort. Through careful planning, better financial discipline, and clear understanding of the system, the NAMA boss has been able to provide most of the needs, as it concern staff welfare and wellbeing.   Training Right from onset and as a professional with technical background, the NAMA MD had declared that training and training was going to be a priority in the agency for both senior and junior staff. Since then Farouk has walked his talk. Just in May this year, the agency flagged off a two-week on-the-job training (OJT) for Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (ATSEPS) of the Department of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance Power Systems. The training, which held simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja and Kano stations of the agency, cuts across all facilities managed by the department. As part of its objectives, the OJT is designed to expose participants to practical experiences in welding, installation of air-conditioning compressors, topping up refrigerants into air-conditioning and cooling systems, as well as installation and maintenance of solar power systems. It also involves carrying out preventive and corrective maintenance of UPS, AVRs, inverters and overhauling of generating sets. Speaking while declaring the training Farouk, noted that the OJT was necessitated by management’s commitment towards increasing the capacity of the agency’s technical and operational staff. According to him, “this would ensure that our communication, navigation and surveillance infrastructure across the country continues to perform seamlessly, efficiently and optimally in line with the International Civil Aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (ICAO SARPs).” He also expressed optimism that the knowledge gained by participants would ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply to all the agency’s installations in Nigeria as a critical component of the safety of air travel. Safety Under farouk’s watch, safety has been the bedrock of his admiration and core principle as he has put measure in place to continuously improving communication in Nigerian airspace, which ultimately enhances safety standards. The agency has also provided fora for inter-agency collaboration in order to ensure safety at all times. A good case in point is when the agency in July, 2025 activated Search and Rescue Simulation (SARS) exercise, a crucial component of Nigeria’s aviation safety protocol, designed to test operational preparedness and enhance response times in the event of real-life aviation emergencies. A review of the exercise which was conducted at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA) Abuja was adjudged as a resounding success and a clear indication that NAMA is totally commitment to ensuring a coordinated and effective response to any airspace-related emergencies. Earlier in June this year and to reinforce it’s effectiveness of emergency plans, communication protocols, and coordination between different agencies and departments, NAMA also conducted an Aircraft Emergency Table Top Exercise to enlighten aviation stakeholders on how to manage aircraft emergencies and disasters. This very successful mock exercise geared towards enlightening aviation stakeholders took place at the MMIA, Lagos bringing together key stakeholders in emergency management and Search and Rescue Units drawn from all the aviation agencies, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Department of State Security (DSS) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). Other agencies that attended that eventful exercise were the Federal Fire Service (FFS), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management (LASEMA), Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASANBUS), Nigerian Police Force (NPF), etc. Beyond coordination of sister agencies in terms of emergencies, Farouk, in many other ways has demonstrated his total commitment to safety and efficiency. He has many times, without number, emphasised the importance of adhering to international best practices and standards, ensuring that NAMA’s operations are guided by a strong safety culture Last Line Indeed, it is obvious that good leadership is not a 100 metres dash race but a well coordinated, conscious and deliberate efforts of a committed leader. This is exactly what Farouk is doing in NAMA. With what is presently on ground, it is self evident that, ab initio, Farouk was focused directly on stabilising the system, earning the trust of staff and stakeholders,