World
Nigerians in Diaspora Hope for Biafra’s Political Autonomy
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
Several reports indicate that Nigeria has reached a critical level in its development as there are numerous problems, including frequent ethnic and religious attacks, deep-seated corruption, an ineffective federal system of governance despite being referred to as the Giant of Africa.
Nigeria is endowed with huge natural resources. By population, it has the highest and that signifies the extent of its human capital in the country.
As already known, Nigeria has three major ethnic groups namely the Hausa-Fulani in the North, Yoruba in the West and the Igbos in East. Ethnic conflict pulls down the expected high development, contributes to insecurity and youth unemployment.
Celine Akigwe, former General Secretary of the Nimo Brotherhood Society (NBS) UK & Ireland and now the Founder & CEO of Afristoricals and Creator of UmojApp, has given an interview in which she talks about some aspects of the existing problems and the need to drastically change the status quo in Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN). Here are the interview excerpts:
As an enterprising Nigerian woman, who previously served on the Executive Committee as General Secretary of the Nimo Brotherhood Society (NBS) UK & Ireland, what would you say are the main problems facing Nigeria?
During my tenure as General Secretary of NBS UK & Ireland, I observed many behavioural patterns that were reflective of the psychology of the people of Nigeria. Over the years, I have sat on many Executive Committees, including the Igbo Cultural & Social Network (ICSN), which is the most progressive Igbo meeting in Europe. ICSN continues to produce vibrant, positive thinking young adults who will shape the future of our homeland.
After observing the various issues facing Nigerians over the years, the main problem facing Nigerians is the country called Nigeria itself. Since my childhood, from over a period of 40 years, I have always known dysfunctionality and infrastructural chaos that dominate the daily lives of the majority of Nigerians.
Nigeria exposes the rich and poor divide in every aspect of society. There have never been good roads for the masses, but as soon as you turn the corner to Ikoyi or Abuja or Banana Island, you see good roads. These areas enjoy constant electricity supply and good telecommunications networks that are alien to the rest of the population. The masses continue to suffer more and more electricity outages than what is provided, yet they are still charged for a service that is not provided.
Access to clean drinking water is another example, where the masses suffer poor quality water. When you factor in the case that the average wage is N25,000 per month, you can see how Nigerian society can only suffer from numerous problems. These are just the basic services that are everyone’s human right, yet in Nigeria, poor electricity, good roads, hospitals and schools have become the norm. Nigeria has become renowned as a place of corruption, criminality, dysfunctionality and infrastructural chaos.
The security situation all over Nigeria has reached a critical level. The numerous killings are tantamount to genocide and ethnic cleansing, which has been going on for decades. We have not seen any outcry from neither the Western nations nor the Eastern nations. In response to the killings, kidnappings, rapes and mutilation of innocent people, we see no reaction or response from our leaders. Nigerian leaders show absolutely no apathy to the plight of their citizens and subsequently, the rest of the world duly ignores the ongoing genocide.
There are too many problems facing Nigerians today that nothing short of a total rethink, revamp and reworking of every denomination of our civilization is required to change the status quo. This broken society must be dismantled and rebuilt.
From its very inception, the concept of Nigeria was doomed. The land that is referred to or called Nigeria was created by the British to make colonizing Africans easier for them to administer. In doing so, the rulers of Nigeria tend to be favoured individuals of the former colonial powers who are presented to the people as a choice to vote for.
Immediately after being elected, every President of Nigeria has obediently made their trip to the U.K. and then to America to seemingly meet with the leaders of those countries and receive their modus operandi for their forthcoming term in office.
I always queried why this was necessary and can only conclude that they are merely going to visit their puppet masters to ensure the colonial grip on Africa never fades.
Until this day, the British use their favourites to keep Nigeria alive, as do other European nations like France. We have never seen a European elected official leave their country to visit any African leader the same they are elected.
To add insult to injury, we learn the name Nigeria was invented by Dame Flora Louise Shaw or Lady Lugard as she was later known with her then-lover Lord Frederick Lugard, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria (1900–06) and Governor-General (1912–19) whom she later married. The end result was inevitable. There can be no peace in a nation that was created like that – ever!
As we have seen… most ethnic groups within the created administrative tool called Nigeria want to leave and form real nations by the people for the people. I think Africans deserve that right. It has taken over 60 years for Nigerians to reach this point of agitation and I think Nigerians have suffered enough. It is time to leave the past behind and cease the administration of the colony – not a former colony – called Nigeria.
Do you also think that women are particularly affected by all these challenges and problems that have engulfed the country?
It is overwhelmingly yes, women have been disproportionately affected by the challenges in many ways, especially during this pandemic. We have seen violence against women increase and incomes fall, not just in Nigeria, but globally.
For over 100 years, patriarchy was gradually imported into West African culture, first by the Fulani Moslems during the conquests of Othman Dan Fodio, and soon after by the British.
Traditional African society existed under a matriarchal system that recognized the African woman as the first to give birth to mankind and a return to matriarchal practices will go a long way to improving the condition of women in Nigeria. Discrimination against women does not occur in a matriarchy, which in no way diminishes the man’s role in society, rather, it enhances and empowers men to raise their standards and mindset.
In governance, no single leader should have the power to dictate laws that affect the wellbeing and progress of women directly or indirectly. This would require more women in senior positions in government, however, it would not be a case of appointing women into positions of power simply because they are women. It would be a case of allotting 50 per cent of the senior cabinet positions to women who qualified for these positions. We will see different results when there is an equal balance between men and women in the halls of power – and not just from the backbenches.
And what do you say about the youth generally?
The youth are the source of all changes. However, our elders have been trained to thwart the development of our youth and prevent them from thinking or even speaking. The youth are the lifeblood of civilization, but they have been let down by the government that has failed to provide the youth of Nigeria with adequate education that would give them a competitive advantage similar to what exist in the rest of the world.
Schools have been neglected, teachers are not paid on time and history had been dropped, which has resulted in what I call illiterate graduates. It is only those who are able to afford the high school fees, stand a chance of achieving something in their lives. The rise of horrible bribes including sex for results has rendered the Nigerian education system entirely dysfunctional and a playground for sexual predators.
We have seen an increase in suicide and rape in Nigeria and we can only commend the students of ASONIS in their campaign to raise awareness and eradicate suicide and rape from Nigeria. The lack of discipline from the top has filtered down to every spectrum of Nigerian society. The youth must rise up in unity by employing group psychology, which would lead to the return of the spirit of Ubuntu from the grassroots up.
What are your expectations from Nigerian women on the Diaspora? What are your suggestions and recommendations for women in other countries?
The role of women has been underestimated. It is the woman who raises the child, whether the child is male or female. But at times, Nigerian women are not empowered within the household to make the final decision about a child’s education or hobby. At times, the man is better equipped to make the final decision. Nigerian women in the Diaspora have an advantage in that they enjoy some protection and so may feel empowered to speak or make decisions, although this still carries some risk for Nigerian women in the Diaspora.
We have seen how excellently our women organise religious and educational institutions that were brought in by colonisation. On the other hand, when it comes to nation-building, many African women are unable to achieve this level of self-awareness and as a result, raise children who are desperate to move away from their culture or who view their own people in a negatively way. Those children will not think twice about investing in Nigeria.
The end result of all this is that we see many Nigerians in the Diaspora working hard to assimilate and invest in their host country’s property, projects and schools. You have to have an acute love and desire to invest and build in Igboland over Abuja or Lagos for example. Without that investment in itself, there can be no sustainable development and the majority of people will continue to want to leave, as we have seen down the years. Once self-pride is established, the children cultivate a love for the motherland and bless it with investment. This is, perhaps, one of the most important roles Nigerian women all over the world can play.
Do all these you have discussed above offer a tangible basis for Nigerians on Diaspora, for instance, in the UK & Ireland, to consider playing significant roles in the development process in Nigeria?
The process for sustainable development in Nigeria has to begin with the desire to change society with our own hands and own feet. Consistently lobbying European institutions such as the Commonwealth to intervene and miraculously resolve all the problems facing Nigerians will not bring around the change that is required for Nigeria. To change this anomaly, Nigerians in the Diaspora can play a significant role in fostering change by following aggressive investment strategies that would involve various community and commercial infrastructure development projects in various sectors in Nigeria.
In order to understand this, for instance, I developed UmojApp and AfriZone shop to bridge the gap between Nigerian businesses and consumers in the Diaspora. UmojApp also educates people on the significant achievements and events from an African perspective. So, the negative mindset of Africans, as a whole, view themselves as agents of change.
In a practical situation, Nigerians in the Diaspora understand the high risks involved in undertaking development projects in Nigeria. It would be for those who have a strong stomach and correct vision that will drive a change through investment in Nigeria.
As already known, Nigeria seems divided along ethnic and religious lines. What are your arguments about, say, integration or political autonomy for the Biafra State?
This really takes us full circle – back to my original answer. Nigeria is an administrative convenience to ease the complications for the British. If Africans are totally honest with themselves, all of the borders that were drawn as a result of the Scramble for Africa should be erased. Over a period of 38 years of war to claim African territory, one of the results was the country called Nigeria.
We must leave the past behind and draw our own map of Africa with our own boundaries to control our own future. Integration is to continue to live in a state of denial of the past. Independence is not a myth but a reality that will happen now or in the future. If this generation is not ready for true independence, then future generations will be, but only if we teach the children to love themselves and their African brothers and sisters.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Former President of Ghana, Mr John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has won a historic comeback election victory on Sunday as voters pushed out the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) over its management of economic crisis in the West African country.
NPP candidate and current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia to incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo today conceded defeat in the weekend presidential election after failing to shake off widespread frustration over high costs of living.
Results showed that Mr Mahama won 56.3 per cent of the vote against 41.3 per cent for Bawumia.
Mr Mahama, who ruled as president from 2012-2017, will return to lead the country on his third attempt to reclaim the nation’s top post after falling short in 2016 and 2020 elections.
Ghana’s two main parties, the NPP and NDC, have alternated in power equally since the return to multi-party politics in 1992.
The country’s economic woes dominated the election after the continent’s top gold producer and the world’s second-largest cocoa exporter went through a crisis of default and currency devaluation, ending with a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Mr Mahama on his victory in the December 7 general election.
In a telephone call to Mr Mahama, President Tinubu hoped that Mahama’s ascension to power for the second time would further bring stability to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian President commended the people of Ghana for their commitment to democracy, which was demonstrated through the peaceful and successful conduct of both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
On December 3, Moscow prepares to hold its ground-breaking International Honest View Award for foreign journalists and bloggers in a planned ceremony.
The 2024 award has collected a record number of applications for all three years of its existence – 488 competition materials from 59 countries, including Argentina, Germany, Israel, India, Iran, Canada, China, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, 19 African countries and all CIS countries.
The goal of the Honest View Award is to identify the best materials from foreign media and authors who cover humanitarian, cultural and economic initiatives of the Russian Federation abroad, as well as joint global, interregional and inter-country projects with Russia. According to the organizers, the world is in demand for objective information about Russia, its international activities and projects abroad.
The competition for foreign media is annually held in order to identify, popularize and promote the best journalistic experience in covering the humanitarian activities of the Russian Federation abroad. The surge in the applications, as compared to the previous years, demonstrated a growing interest in reporting on Russia, especially in the context of the changing geopolitical situation.
This is not the limit: based on the dynamics of growing interest in the contest in the previous two years, the Organizing Committee has expanded the geography to all the continents – especially since the contest was receiving attention from international associations that unite journalists from different regions and strive to maintain high standards of the profession.
It is also aimed at inspiring and motivating foreign journalists to join the movement for multipolar change and make a departure away from criticisms to promote Russia’s image abroad. The works of foreign journalists and bloggers were evaluated by the members of an Expert Council and the Media Award Jury.
The most popular nomination was “Best Material on International Cultural Partnership with Russia” – 159 applications were received. 132 authors are competing for the victory in the nomination “Best Material on Social and Humanitarian Topics” and 103 materials have been submitted in the nomination for “Best Material in the Genre of Journalism and Documentary” after the deadline on 25th September 2024, according to reports.
One of the innovations of the award in 2024 is the nomination for young journalists aged 18-25, and it has found its audience: more than 15% of the applications received for the competition were submitted by applicants under 25. This year’s innovation – the nomination “Best Material by Young Journalists about the Russian Federation” – attracted 54 young and aspiring journalists aged 18-25 to the competition. The most talented and active participants will be invited to Moscow in early December to attend the Media School, which includes lectures, master classes and trainings by Russian and foreign experts on international issues, global challenges, mastering modern journalism formats and mass communication technologies in the context of covering international humanitarian projects.
Another innovation of this year included the special nomination for the author of the material covering cooperation within EAEU, BRICS and other international projects and initiatives. The winner in this category was selected by the Competition Jury together with one of the Award’s partners. The final results of the award will be announced at the award ceremony for the winners and laureates on 3rd December 2024 in Moscow.
Reference: The Honest View Media Award is being held for the third year and has already become a platform for uniting journalists and bloggers from all over the world. In 2022, 118 journalists from 28 countries participated in the award. Participants from Uzbekistan, Montenegro, Tajikistan, Belarus, and Iran were the winners of the competition. In 2023, the geography of the award expanded, and the number of participants doubled: 250 works from 51 countries were received.
In 2024, journalists and bloggers from 59 countries submitted applications for the competition, including Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Israel, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Moldova, Mongolia, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Finland, CAR, Chad, Montenegro, Ecuador, Ethiopia, South Africa, South Ossetia.
The organizer of the award and media school is the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). The operator of the competition and media school is the AGT Communications Agency, one of the leaders in the communications industry of Russia and the CIS countries.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Never underestimate the power of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese, created on 28th May 1975 as a regional political and economic union bringing together fifteen (15) countries of West Africa. Per the date of its establishment, this so-called regional bloc marks its 50th year in 2025, a significant historical celebration.
Considered one of the pillar regional blocs of the continent-wide African Economic Community (AEC), ECOWAS generally has its primary common goal of working consistently towards achieving, what is first referred to, as “collective self-sufficiency” for its member states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union. Additionally, ECOWAS aims to raise the living standards of an estimated population of over 425 million people and to promote economic development based on the principles of interdependence, solidarity, and cooperation.
Until writing this article, ECOWAS has frequently been discussing and reviewing the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project, one single regional infrastructure project these several years. It has shown its total commitment to looking for funding while billions have been siphoned by leaders into foreign banks. African leaders are quick negotiating and paying for foreign military weapons but are grossly unsuccessful in soliciting similar assistance from these external partners to invest in infrastructure development such as the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project.
West African Highway Launched in 2017
The construction of this proposed grandiose West African highway has its chequered history. The proposed project was successfully launched in 2017, and since then it has had a series of high-powered meetings and conferences, technical studies have been conducted, and the construction to its feasibility and practical operationalization. The Abidjan-Lagos highway, the six-lane dual carriage highway, is estimated at $15.1 billion.
On resource mobilization, it was explicitly noted that ECOWAS had adopted a new regulatory framework on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) – an incentive for the entry of the private sector in large investments like the nature of this project. The African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of the development partners offered its assurance for unwavering commitment to the realization of the highway.
Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has several times highlighted the importance of the Abidjan-Lagos highway as an infrastructure project in West Africa that would ease the free movement of people, goods and services, generate social and economic activities, and ultimately promote cross-border trade within the region, its economic viability and enormous potentials especially now that African Union looks to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Noticeably, Africa has long been considered a frontier for manufacturing, technology, for food production. Africa is getting ready for business, it is busily building the world’s largest single market of 1.4 billion people.
Special Meetings and Technical Consultations
Several meetings upon meetings and meetings have been held since the project was proposed in 2017. Since 2017, paid meetings have been held, and experts have been paid. The latest of such a paid meeting was held on November 10-11, 2024. This roundtable was initiated following the instructions given to the ECOWAS Commission. Late September 2024, such a roundtable meeting was held in Abidjan, the capital city of Côte d’Ivoire, under the auspices of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).
The highway corridor is calculated to be approximately 1,080 km long. It will connect some of the largest and most economically dynamic cities Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lomé and Lagos while covering a large proportion of West Africa’s population. It will also link very vibrant seaports in West Africa. In addition, it will serve all the landlocked ECOWAS member-states, for example, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the region. Nearly 40 million people are estimated to be living along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor while 47 million people travel along the axis every year. These are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the development of the project touted to be a real backbone of trade in the region.
According to official documents, this highway project falls in line with the key objectives of the ECOWAS Vision 2050, including (i) facilitating the movement of people and goods, and (ii) accelerating trade and transport, regional and international, improving road infrastructure. It is eventually expected that the transport corridor will be transformed into a development corridor to stimulate investment, sustainable development and poverty reduction within the entire region.
West African Highway and AfCFTA
The focal point of controversy and debate, these several years, are centred on the mechanism of financing, and the state-of-the-art management of this new mega-highway – from planning through practical construction to its final commissioning, ready for cutting-edge usage by the transport industry. The idea of prioritizing highway innovation, signalling a bold leap in West Africa’s transportation infrastructure, is its recognizable potential transformative impact. Simply intended to improve and facilitate the movement of services, goods and people across the region. The Abidjan-Lagos Highway highlights its potential to enhance regional connectivity and drive economic growth, especially with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA), the ambitious flagship of the African Union (AU).
According to ECOWAS’ latest document issued after their two-day special meeting held on November 11 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, “experts have lauded findings of the study which has among others, unveiled a potential $6.8 billion investment prepared and ready to be implemented to unlock economic growth and enhance the viability of the proposed highway.” The overall objective is to identify and unlock the inherent and latent economic potential (short, medium and long-term) and commercial viability of economic and industrial value chain projects. These economic projects, once implemented, will also generate trade volumes and traffic to augment the viability of the highway.
The final draft reports were issued after groups revisited (that was not the first time) several tolled bridges and roads in Abidjan for knowledge and experience sharing strategy envisaged for the Abidjan-Lagos Highway. At the end of the exercise, the study report (re)validated commitment to unlock the inherent and latent economic potential of the highway construction and estimated $6.8 billion in potential investment in the region.
Final Construction Still Out of Sight
For the past few years, significant attention has been drawn by the widely publicized announcement of securing enough funds from African banks and external sources for the construction of this regional highway which could become a cornerstone, and the public narrative of achievement by ECOWAS, which marks its 50th year in 2025. However, transport industry analysts, researchers and experts have already cast serious doubts and skyline scepticism if ECOWAS could live up to this onerous task. Grandiose ceremony-infested ECOWAS future task of achieving its primary target of constructing a ‘speed-highway’ remains an eternal dream. Noticeably, ECOWAS has little to celebrate, except its existence by name, (the golden jubilee) at its 50th year in May 2025. At least, Africans will rather jubilate over the authenticity of reforming and transforming the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
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