Bode Feyitimi

Interest in Hospitality Industry; Food Brokerage; SME Advisory; Accountancy; Business Systems' Installation; Modest Love for Soccer; No Interest in Politics.

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

2] He told me it was he who encouraged Kalu Okpi to write his “The Smugglers”.
I accepted and wrote a 70-page story about one factory worker called Dayo. Sadly, I misplaced the manuscript during a relocation. I was thrown into grief, lost interest in -3

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

An absolutely interesting piece!

Created for purpose & made extraordinarily verbose for grand effect!

When an argument is this long-winded & smeared all over with numerous improbable "ifs", it is like scaring us by saying: 'if the heavens fall this month, no Xmas this year!"

[Chetuya Chinagolum @Chetuyachinago]

I hate to admit this, but I completely agree with the IMF on this one.

I know that this may sound heavily counterintuitive. In all my political analysis on this platform, I have consistently pointed out that the IMF and the World Bank do not give out loans to genuinely help developing countries. They lend strictly to control the economies of developing nations, force privatization, and forcefully open local markets for the massive global multinationals financing these exact institutions.

However, I have done my deep research on this highly secretive Abu Dhabi loan scheme that the Nigerian government is presently considering, and what I found is deeply troubling and borderline treasonous.
First, it is crucially important to emphasize that this is the first time Nigeria, in all its long, painful history of borrowing to build infrastructure, is ever seriously considering a Total Return Swap (TRS) loan.
Historically, Nigeria has always restricted its sovereign borrowing to Eurobonds, bilateral government-to-government loans(with China), Paris Club concessional debt, standard World Bank infrastructure facilities, or traditional commercial syndicated loans.
Not only has Nigeria never tried a Total Return Swap loan in the past, but other African nations have actively, aggressively avoided this financial death trap entirely. In fact, the only two African nations to have even foolishly attempted to engage in a Total Return Swap loan are Senegal and Angola, and in both tragic cases, the macroeconomic aftershocks have been devastatingly brutal.

First, I see Nigerians making the erroneous and highly emotional argument that the IMF is strictly against this loan simply because they do not want us borrowing from China or the Middle East. This is a massive because the toxic TRS loan that Angola eventually took was actually structured through an American bank, JPMorgan, and the IMF still criticized it heavily, publicly, and relentlessly. Secondly, even though the bank Nigeria currently intends to borrow this money from may proudly bear an Arabic name, the underlying operational and structural plumbing of global finance rigidly dictates that it is absolutely impossible for the UAE to directly lend billions of dollars to Nigeria without the direct involvement, backend infrastructure, dollar liquidity, and clearing systems of major American banks. So Wall Street still gets to comfortably eat from this toxic loan, even though it is geographically originating from the Middle East.

Secondly, it is incredibly easy to understand why the Tinubu Administration is pushing so aggressively to lock in this loan. Recall that a strong rumor was circulating last month that the World Bank had permanently terminated an $800 million loan to the Nigerian government. Well, the truth is that it was actually the Tinubu Administration that urgently requested the World Bank terminate the loan because the harsh conditions were simply too much to swallow politically. The World Bank arrogantly demanded that Tinubu impose even more taxes on electricity and hike tariffs which would effectively raise the suffocating cost of survival for Nigerian businesses, which Tinubu respectfully declined because the tax burden was already provoking mass anger.
So right now, it is highly probable that Tinubu is quietly running to Abu Dhabi to collect a massive, strings-free loan that will definitely not come with painful Structural Adjustment Programmes that would force him to devalue the Naira further, remove more subsidies, or hit Nigerians with heavier, crippling taxes.
This is highly understandable from a purely selfish political calculus. General elections are exactly seven short months away, and the frustrated, hungry, and exhausted Nigerian population could violently rebel against him at the ballot box. So obviously, another punishing World Bank loan is completely off the table for now if the President intends to comfortably return to Aso Rock come 2027.

This is exactly why they have desperately chosen this Total Return Swap loan. This is because Abu Dhabi does not care a single bit about the junk credit ratings of Nigeria, they do not care about structural adjustment programmes, they will not demand Nigeria cuts funding for healthcare, slashes education budgets, eliminates remaining agricultural subsidies, privatizes critical national assets, or forces mass layoffs in the civil service just to qualify for this cash. However, this loan comes with a very strict, highly predatory condition that every single Nigerian should be deeply concerned about, violently reject, and aggressively demand the government immediately withdraw their application for.

First, to even qualify for this $5 billion loan, the Nigerian government must physically hand over sovereign government bonds worth over 133% of this loan, which translates to a staggering ₦6.6 Trillion, directly to the UAE. These Treasury Bills are binding debts that the Nigerian government has legally promised to pay out to creditors, and Abu Dhabi will instantly sell off these bills to the international market to secure their ₦6.6 trillion. These new global buyers will effectively be holding Nigeria's sovereign debt hostage. These private, faceless investors will eventually turn to the Central Bank of Nigeria and violently demand to be paid the interest (coupons) and the massive face value of those bonds. The Nigerian government is now legally, permanently obligated to pay out ₦6.6 trillion of our bleeding taxpayers' money to these aggressive private bondholders.

This is not even the scariest part of this suicidal deal. Another strict, unforgiving obligation of this toxic loan is the terrifying "Margin Call." You see, since these Treasury Bills are heavily priced in Naira, their global value will violently fluctuate depending on how our fragile exchange rate changes. If the Strait of Hormuz is permanently reopened, for example, the global price of oil per barrel will drastically plummet below the $100 mark. This will definitely, immediately impact our Naira value since it will rapidly dry up the vital US dollars flowing into Nigeria, given that 90% of our foreign reserves are entirely dependent on crude oil exports. This means significantly fewer dollars will now be coming into the country, which will trigger massive dollar scarcity. Basic, elementary economics dictates that we should automatically expect the Naira to violently crash to ₦1,600, ₦1,800, or even ₦2,000 per dollar. If this nightmare happens, let us assume the Naira falls by 40%. Then the underlying value of the Nigerian treasury bills issued to the UAE would effectively crash in value by 40 percent. In response, they will instantly issue an aggressive margin call to Nigeria, legally forcing the CBN to immediately, unconditionally transfer $2.6 billion in raw cash directly to the UAE just to keep the loan position open.
Now, pay attention: this massive amount does not even settle the outstanding principal loan, it does not settle the mounting interest on the loan, it is simply a punitive penalty fee that Nigeria must bleed out just to keep the contract active. Nigeria would either have to raid our already depleted foreign reserves (which are supposed to be strictly used to defend the Naira, pay for imports, and secure national stability) just to keep a useless loan position open. If Nigeria does not want to send scarce dollars to the UAE, Nigeria would be contractually forced to issue and blindly pledge an additional ₦2.64 trillion in brand new Treasury bills. Instead of having ₦6.6 trillion in national debt held hostage by a foreign bank, Nigeria would suddenly have ₦9.24 trillion totally locked up. If Nigeria eventually defaults, the amount of national debt the UAE bank can maliciously dump onto the fragile local market violently increases from ₦6.6 trillion to over ₦9.2 trillion, and this would absolutely, mathematically guarantee a total domestic financial collapse.

Look at the tragic case of Angola, for example. Just four very short months after collecting this exact type of toxic loan from JPMorgan, their local currency violently crashed, legally forcing Angola to urgently scrape together and send $200 million in raw cash directly to the American bank, and despite this massive financial bleeding, they eventually defaulted on the entire loan anyway.

This is exactly what every Nigerian desperately needs to understand. Tinubu is not actively avoiding the IMF and the World Bank because his administration has suddenly decided to act sovereign, stand tall, and look for a genuinely better, more respectful lender. This administration is directly, purely avoiding the World Bank because their specific loan will come with heavier taxes, painful structural reforms, and massive public backlash since a highly contested election is dangerously close. But now, this desperate administration is blindly grabbing onto a far more dangerous, explosive, and financially lethal loan that has the direct capacity to cripple our entire economy, destroy our currency, and bankrupt our future faster than the World Bank or IMF could ever possibly dream of.

The society of Nigerian accountants needs to urgently study the complex terms of this toxic loan, hold emergency press conferences, and issue a strongly worded statement to condemn it in its strongest possible terms. The lawyers need to immediately download these predatory loan agreements, study the fine print, dissect the hidden clauses, expose the draconian arbitration terms, file urgent injunctions in federal courts, drag the Finance Minister to the National Assembly, and forcefully petition international financial watchdogs. We, as an exhausted people, need to finally wake up, get angry, and do something concrete, as this is a catastrophic decision that will violently affect our daily lives, our businesses, and our children. Yes, an election is coming, but the election is not tomorrow, the election is not next month, the election is in exactly 7 months, and by then, this financial death warrant would be permanently signed, sealed, and firmly delivered. The House of Assembly will obviously, spinelessly approve these loans without reading a single page because their privileged children, their wealthy families, and their unborn grandchildren will obviously never be affected by the brutal terms of this financial slavery. But we, the ordinary, hardworking, and highly taxed Nigerians, will be the ones totally crushed to the absolute ground when this house of cards inevitably crashes.

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

Timely move!

[Woye @woye1]

Kaduna State has officially commenced a rigorous six-week training program for 1000 newly recruited forest guards at the Police College, Kaduna.

2: You will recall that the Gov of Kaduna State @ubasanius earlier approved the recruitment of 1000 forest guards selected from frontline communities so they are already FAMILIAR with the challenging local terrain.

3: Training: a six-week intensive program coordinated by @Official_ONSA

4: They will be deployed to Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Kachia, Kagarko, Kajuru, and Igabi.

5: Peace is a policy of @ubasanius

6: @Yeribaaba @HighChiefOkoro @ishaqsamaila5 @musa_kiliya @MusanBaturia @PrimeReportersn @Better_Kaduna @iamAhmadOlolu @OzoMusty @MOIKaduna @DepGovKaduna

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

@angelbertnde101 @imakun122 Maybe not!

Some hotels specify similar features for front office staff, to be neatly done without such spitefully farcical drama

But if what the lady said is true, though I've no reason to doubt her, then the recruiters are worthless, grossly unskilled, and hopelessly moronic!

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

Interesting!
But examine first before condemning an optic.
Any law requiring constitutional amendments can't be passed in hours
Stakeholders inputs are crucial, eg. Tax Laws.
Again, SP law is brand new, requiring sections to prevent abuses by States & domineering influence by FG.

[Son Of Grace @AA_Adelodun]

@aonanuga1956 All these optics are useless, we have had bills and policies that favor the president passed within hours not days
All the loan requests never stay 24hrs before being passed if he he cares about innocent Nigerians being attacked daily by criminals he knows how to get it done fast

[Farmer Bali 🐐🌱 @Mazgraphy]

Makarfi Market, Kaduna Price List
3/06/2026

Grains & Cereals
​Wheat (100 kg Bag): ₦70,000
​White Maize (100 kg Bag): ₦33,000
​Yellow Maize (100 kg Bag): ₦35,000
​White Sorghum (100 kg Bag): ₦38,000
​Yellow Sorghum (100 kg Bag): ₦35,000
​Millet (100 kg Bag): ₦48,000

[Taiwo_Ajakaye @dmightyangel]

LGA FUNCTIONS ACCORDING TO 1999 CONSTITUTION:

I am beginning to see that there's really nothing wrong with 1999 Constitution, it only needs continuous amendment just like any other Constitution Worldwide.....

Under the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, these essential grassroots infrastructure, municipal services, and public utility tasks are constitutionally designated to the third tier of government to ensure grassroots development. Let's try to pick them one by one:

"Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lighting, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such other public facilities as may be prescribed by the State House of Assembly."

SUMMARY:
1. Infrastructure Development: Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lighting, and drains.

2. Public Highways: Maintenance of public highways and community streets.

3. Recreation & Spaces: Provision and upkeep of parks, gardens, and open spaces.

4. State Prescribed Functions: Any other public facility or service as may be legally prescribed from time to time by the State House of Assembly.

Question: Having received average of N15 Billion by your LGA in the past 34 months, some have received N30 billion, some N60 Billion etc, are there Construction of Roads in your LGA as we speak between May 29 2023 and NOW?
Are there Maintenance of roads by the LGA?

Have they embarked on street lighting in your LGA?

Have they created parks, gardens, open spaces or any other public facilities in your LGA?

So, what have they done with the BILLIONS?

#Project774
#LGAfunctions

[Woye @woye1]

Don’t share fake insecurity news.

2: confirm, double confirmation and 100% verification before posting.

3: police cells no be house.

4: Govt is not sleeping. Watching the chaos but you will have your day, you have been wishing.

[Taiwo_Ajakaye @dmightyangel]

MAIN/SHARED FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS.....

I simply checked online on what the Constitution of Nigeria calls the Primary functions of LGAs in Nigeria.

Going through the Primary functions of LGAs and Shared responsibilities with the State, it is obvious that if States and LGAs are not ready to lift a finger, there's little development we can see as a people.....If States & LGAs don't do them despite getting funds, who will? Unfortunately, the functions are so important to our day to day activities at the grassroots.

So I'll paste them here, no need to analyze them:

(a) Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lighting, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such other public facilities as may be prescribed by the State House of Assembly.

(b) Collection of rates, radio and television licences.😇😇

(c) Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds, and homes for the destitute or infirm.

(d) Establishment, maintenance, and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks, and public conveniences.

(e) Licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled trucks), canoes, wheelbarrows, and carts.

(f) Consideration and making of recommendations to a State commission on economic planning (or similar body) on: The economic development of the State, especially as it affects the LGA's area.

(g) Naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses.

(h) Provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage, and refuse disposal.

(i) Registration of all births, deaths, and marriages.

(j) Assessment of privately owned houses or tenements for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the State House of Assembly.

(k) Control and regulation of: (i) Outdoor advertising and hoarding.
(ii) Movement and keeping of pets of all descriptions.
(iii) Shops and kiosks.
(iv) Restaurants, bakeries, and other places for the sale of food to the public.
(v) Laundries.
(vi) The licensing, regulation, and control of the sale of liquor.

2. Concurrent/Participatory Functions: areas where LGAs participate with the State government:

(a) The provision and maintenance of primary, adult, and vocational education.

(b) The development of agriculture and natural resources (other than the exploitation of minerals).

(c) The provision and maintenance of health services.

(d) Such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the State.

#Project774

[Wale S Akerele @akerele_s]

Nigerians are becoming increasingly aware of their surroundings and understanding the dynamics at play. The animosity towards President Tinubu may lead some to act irrationally. I recall when the U.S. was on a mission to apprehend Bin Laden; they kept their plans under wraps, avoiding any public announcements. Yet, here we have Mr. VDM demanding transparency from the government, as if he holds some exceptional status. He should remember that he isn’t more significant than the government, nor is he above figures like Nnamdi Kanu or El-Rufai. When the authorities decide to act, there’s little anyone can do to thwart them. Nowhere in the world is an individual greater than the government. I understand his desire for relevance, but once his time is up, they'll know exactly how to handle him. Just as a woman suggested, if his Hausa boyfriends are sponsoring to undermine this administration, consequences will inevitably follow—it's simply a question of time.

I stand firmly opposed to the acts of banditry and kidnapping, yet I suspect there are political motives behind some of these actions aimed at undermining President @officialABAT. The truth will eventually come to light; not all Nigerians are foolish like the noise-makers known as the ObiEdiots @p_oruche @AishaYesufu @randypeterzz @siccof @Peter4Nigeria @MamaPee, who began their schemes as the presidential election approached. My hope is that those responsible are caught alive so they can reveal who orchestrated it all.

Kudos to the young man for always hitting the mark.
@STinubu @SenRemiTinubu if there is need speak out too just sympathize with the people. Akerele

[@NeoAfric Magazine @OjedokunL43408]

This is the kind of news that needs to be amplified by the so-called big media houses in the country!

If @sowore and @fisayosoyombo really want this country to be better they need to swing into action to make sure we know how the huge money has been spent with nothing to show

[Dr. Abba Aliyu @abbaaliyu_]

One of the things that gives me the greatest confidence in Nigeria’s future is seeing young people take ownership of solving complex national challenges.

Over the past few months, I have watched a team of bright young professionals within the Rural Electrification Agency work tirelessly to develop what is now becoming one of our most important institutional tools, the REA Standardised Impact Metrics Framework and Impact Metrics Dashboard.

As leaders, we often speak about connections delivered, megawatts deployed, and communities reached. But increasingly, we must also be able to answer a more important question, “What difference are these projects actually making in people's lives?”

This dashboard helps us do exactly that.

[Genevieve Mbama 🕊 🇳🇬 🇻🇦 @Gviev]

ON THE POWER MATTER...

CURRENT SITUATION
GENCOS already have installed capacity of about 14,000 MW but actual generation is only about 4,500 MW

TRANSMISSION COY has capacity of 8,000 MW but actual transmission is about 4 000 MW

DISCOS can only dustribute what they get but actually distribute about 3,800 MW ( this is where we all get impacted.)

QUESTION.....
So since we already have 14,000 MW installed; How can Nigeria generate, transmit and supply at least 10 000 MW?

SOLUTION FRAMEWORK..
1) GAS PIPELINE PROJECTS✅️
Invest heavily in SECURED Gas Pipelines and Gas to power infrastructure to GENCOS...
NOTE: Govt is already doing this with the NNPC Gas pipeline projects comprising of:

a) ELPS ( Escravos- Lagos Pipeline)....completed in 2011 but Expansion & UPGRADE going on to get 100% completed by August 2026

b) OB3 ( Obiafun-Obrikom-Oben) Gas Pipeline.. it is about 95% complete after successful crossing of River Niger in April 2026. The Project started under President Buhari in 2020

c) AKK (Ajokuta - Kaduna- Kano ) Gas Pipeline. It is 95% complete and first gas delivery is August 2026!!
Project staryed in 2011 under GEJ

The above 3 Projects will help GENCOS untilise almost full capacity and all will be vompleted in 2026!!!!!

2) CREATE STATE ELECTRICITY MARKETS.✅️
Electricity Act, Done! Signed under President Tinubu. State Electricity market on going but slow ( BLAME GOVERNORS!!)

Bw LAGOS STATE has progressed action to license 14 providers to commence operations in October 2026! we expect significant supply improvement in 2027.

Also Abia State is moving with Geometric Power!

3) RESOLVE GENCOS and GAS SUPPLIER DEBTS
FG has waged in to settle up to N3 Trillion verified debt it owes tp gencos and paid N500 billion so far.

4) MORDERNIZE DISCOS & METERING ❌️
Unfortunately DISCOS are messing up. But operational State Electricity markets can push in competition like Lagos is starting

5) ENCOURAGE CAPTIVE and EMBEDDED GENERATION OUTSIDE NATIONAL GRID
On going but slow. State Electricity Markets are expected to push this

6) EXPAND TRANSMISION CAPACITY TO through REGIONAL DECENTRALISATION

CONCLUSION👇👇👇
Based on the above current situation and on-going projects, before anyone begins to claim to deliver 10,000 MW...what exactly is the person referring to?

Cos on-going projects are looking good to deliver it by 2027!!! and that is what Bismark Rewane reffered to during his interview 2 days ago.

Like I keep saying....YOU DO NOT CHANGE THE GUARD OF A MOVING TRAIN....President Tinubu shpuld be allowed to complete... the work he has begun, the previous ongoing projects he continued to fund....
✅️✅️✅️✅️

[Ziyad Yakubu @Ziyad_yakubu]

This is a weak framing. And I am not a Christian.

Christianity gave the world universities, hospitals, monastic scholarship, abolitionist movements, literacy campaigns, preservation of classical texts, natural law traditions, major philosophers, major scientists, art, music, architecture, and political ideas that shaped human dignity and rights.

You can criticize Christian empires, churches, missionaries, colonial complicity, and present-day pastors convincing young Africans that they must donate 10% of their income before God can bless them. Fair.

But asking, “What has Christianity contributed to civilization?” is not serious history. It is internet tribalism dressed as analysis.

Civilizations are not pure religious laboratories.

Islam produced great mathematicians partly through Greek, Persian, Indian, and Arab inheritance.

Hindu civilization produced philosophy and astronomy through its own long intellectual ecosystem.

African spirituality produced medicine, ethics, metaphysics, and social order through African societies.

Christian civilization also produced Augustine, Aquinas, Plantinga, universities, hospitals, Gothic architecture, Bach, Newton, Mendel, abolitionists, and a massive literacy tradition.

This fixation on religion is a distraction.

The real question is not whether Islam, Christianity, African spirituality, or Hindu civilization contributed something. Of course they did.

The serious question is: what are we capable of consciously adopting, reforming, discarding, and building from?

Africa’s problem is not that we borrowed. Every serious civilization borrowed. The problem is that too often we inherit things unconsciously, defend them emotionally, reject them performatively, or worship them blindly.

That is why I keep arguing for conscious adoption.

Take what strengthens society. Reform what can be reformed. Discard what weakens us. Stop pretending that development will come from religious scoreboard debates on the internet.

Civilization is not built by asking, “Who gave mankind more?”

It is built by asking, “What works, what failed, what can we adapt, and what institutions can we build from it?

[Ziyad Yakubu @Ziyad_yakubu]

Let me tell you something, my friend.

The North’s problem is real. Nobody serious should deny it. The poverty is real. The out-of-school children are real. The insecurity is real. The failure of leadership is real.

But if you want to understand the North, you cannot start the story from “they have had presidents.”

That is too shallow for a region with this much history, geography, trauma, religion, power politics, colonial distortion, elite failure, and security pressure.

The North did not wake up one morning and decide to hate education. There is a history behind that suspicion.

When the British entered Northern Nigeria, they met an already established Islamic political order. There were emirates, courts, scholars, taxation systems, trade routes, Islamic schools, judges, administrators, and a ruling class that already had its own idea of civilization.

Then colonial rule came with Western education, missionary activity, new courts, new administrative structures, and new incentives.

In many parts of the South, Western education entered through mission schools and became a ladder into the colonial economy. In much of the Muslim North, it carried a different meaning. It was not just “school.” It was seen by many as a vehicle for Christian influence, colonial loyalty, cultural erosion, and the weakening of existing Islamic authority.

That stigma did not come from the sky. It came from conquest, mistrust, and the way Western education arrived.

This is why the North’s education problem cannot be reduced to stupidity or laziness. It began partly as a defensive reaction to a real historical threat.

But here is the hard truth: the suspicion has outlived the threat.

A reaction that may have made sense under colonial pressure became destructive when the modern state began rewarding literacy, science, bureaucracy, technology, engineering, and formal administration.

At some point, protecting identity became indistinguishable from trapping children outside the future.

That is where Northern leadership failed badly.

The old Northern elite understood the danger earlier than people admit. Sir Ahmadu Bello did not sit down and say, “Let the North remain backward.” His Northernization agenda was a deliberate attempt to produce Northern teachers, administrators, civil servants, professionals, and political leadership quickly enough to prevent the region from being swallowed inside a new Nigerian state dominated by the already Western-educated South.

That agenda had flaws, but it worked in one important sense: it created a Northern administrative class.

The problem is that later leaders inherited the power but not the developmental seriousness.

They inherited the slogans, the emirates, the titles, the political machinery, and the federal access, but not the discipline of mass education, industrial policy, rural development, teacher training, agricultural modernization, and serious security planning.

So yes, the North has produced presidents.

But producing presidents is not the same as producing development.

Power without developmental discipline becomes distribution. It becomes appointments, contracts, pilgrim boards, federal slots, elite bargaining, and recycled patronage.

And geography also matters.

The North is not sitting beside the Atlantic like Lagos or Port Harcourt. It is tied to the Sahel. It shares long and porous borders with Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin. When Libya collapsed, when weapons spread across the Sahel, when jihadist networks expanded, when climate stress hit pastoral routes, when Lake Chad communities were weakened, when Niger and Mali became unstable, the North inherited those shocks directly.

A farmer in Zamfara, a trader in Maiduguri, a herder around Sokoto, or a community in Katsina is not dealing only with “Nigerian leadership failure.” They are living inside a regional security crisis.

That does not excuse bad leadership. It explains why lazy comparisons are weak.

The North also suffered from the Nigerian resource curse in a particular way. Once oil money became the centre of the Nigerian state, productive regional economies were weakened. Groundnut pyramids, cotton, hides and skins, textiles, agriculture, local industry, and regional planning lost importance. Politics became a struggle for federal allocation instead of a competition to build productive capacity.

The North had land. It had people. It had agriculture. It had trade routes. But the oil state taught every region to look toward Abuja.

That destroyed initiative everywhere, but it damaged the North deeply because its strongest assets required long-term planning: irrigation, agro-processing, education, rural roads, livestock systems, border trade, and security coordination.

Now, after saying all that, responsibility must be accepted.

Northern leaders failed their own people.

They allowed almajiri children to become political decoration instead of a national emergency. They allowed banditry to grow from local criminality into a parallel economy. They allowed schools to decay. They allowed girls’ education to become negotiable. They allowed clerics and politicians to play games with reform. They used poverty as an election structure. They built loyalty through dependence.

That part is true.

But the answer is not to mock the North. The answer is to study what worked before and update it.

Ahmadu Bello’s Northernization agenda can be reimagined for the 21st century.

Not as ethnic exclusion or nostalgia. But as a serious regional human-capital project.

Mass teacher training. Boarding schools in secure zones. Integrated Qur’anic and formal education. Technical colleges tied to agriculture, energy, construction, mining, and logistics. Girls’ education backed by stipends and community negotiation. Agro-industrial clusters around Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe, Niger, and Borno. Livestock modernization instead of pretending open grazing can survive modern population pressure. Border security tied to trade, not just soldiers and checkpoints.

Other societies have faced versions of this problem.

Bangladesh attacked female education with stipends, community-level incentives, and a clear national push. Indonesia did not abolish its Islamic schools; it integrated many of them into a modern education pathway. Malaysia used state policy to expand opportunities for historically disadvantaged Malay communities, though with its own flaws. China took poor inland regions seriously through infrastructure, rural industry, technical training, and state coordination.

The lesson is simple: you do not fix historic backwardness by insults. You fix it with policy, discipline, and elite seriousness.

So yes, my friend, criticize Northern leadership. I do it too.

But do not flatten a whole region into “they had presidents and still failed.”

That is lazy analysis.

The North’s crisis is a product of bad leadership, colonial disruption, educational mistrust, Sahelian geography, oil-state laziness, elite capture, and security collapse.

And the way forward is also clear.

The North must stop hiding behind history.

The South must stop pretending history does not matter.

And Nigeria must understand that if the North remains broken, the country will not be stable, no matter how much one region mocks another online.

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

@AShammeh @DeeOneAyekooto As a hater of politics, the comic side of it sometimes amuses me!

There are two politicians in this country that only a person on pipe dream would challenge in primaries.

One can construct the podium with GMGs while the other can surround the venue with a fleet of bullion vans.

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

Hmmm.
Interesting!

[Arojinle @arojinle1]

When it comes to the most intelligent animal, after humans, wildlife enthusiasts and experts are divided into two groups. The first group, which I belong to, acknowledge the chimpanzee as the most intelligent. The second group acknowledge the orangutan.

While orangutans have great memories and are very good with tools, chimpanzees are above them. Orangutans are very smart and would copy something they see a human do but chimpanzees are more instinctively creative.

Also, chimpanzees are more social. They play politics like humans and the way the most intelligent and "political" chimpanzee makes it to the top, at the expense of the most powerful, is just mesmerizing. Some chimpanzees play politics better than some humans, in my own opinion.

[Arojinle @arojinle1]

When it comes to the most intelligent animal, after humans, wildlife enthusiasts and experts are divided into two groups. The first group, which I belong to, acknowledge the chimpanzee as the most intelligent. The second group acknowledge the orangutan.

While orangutans have great memories and are very good with tools, chimpanzees are above them. Orangutans are very smart and would copy something they see a human do but chimpanzees are more instinctively creative.

Also, chimpanzees are more social. They play politics like humans and the way the most intelligent and "political" chimpanzee makes it to the top, at the expense of the most powerful, is just mesmerizing. Some chimpanzees play politics better than some humans, in my own opinion.

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

God in his mercy will bless you real good @arojinle1. You need to see how termite have been tormenting me!

This is likely going to be one of the benefits derivable from following you!

Though I'm yet to try it, but I trust you, because of your usual convincing argument.

Kudos!

[Arojinle @arojinle1]

Termites cannot digest cellulose (wood or paper) on their own. They rely on gut microbes (flagellate protozoa and bacteria) to break it down into usable nutrients. Flagyl kills these microbes. Without them, termites starve even if they eat wood, leading to death within weeks.

Studies use metronidazole specifically to induce defaunation in research, confirming it leads to termite death or colony collapse (sometimes triggering cannibalism in reproductives due to hunger).

So, what do people do...They soak flagyl in water and soak cardboards in it. They then place these cardboards in strategic places. The termites pick them up, tear parts of it and take it home. What happens next...your guess is good as mine

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

Truly so! Very well put.

[Yinka Ogunnubi @yinkanubi]

I have some friends yet to congratulate me for Arsenal Victory 7 days after we lifted the EPL trophy and 12 days after we won it, but they couldn't resist the urge to send mocking messages celebrating the UCL loss. It didn't matter to them what winning it meant to me and how losing it at that stage must feel.

There is a life lesson here. There are those who will celebrate your inability to attain just because it makes them feel better about themselves or their feeling of superiority based on past glory.

Regardless, those messages had the opposite effect. They became fuel and motivation to keep believing and pushing forward. We will win it one day by His Grace. And y'all be living witnesses. 🙏

[Bode Feyitimi @labodday]

Horrible!
Who for goodness sake can be said to be worthy of trust? See the leadership, see the citizens!

[Wale Adedayo 🌍🔰 @Mario9jaa]

The police just traced a sum of N2bn to the account of a Mining Marshal after three of them were arrested over the death of their superintendent.

I knew it was a matter of time before the corruption in the sector is extended to these people.

Nigerians are the reasons why Nigeria may never work.