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*NYESOM WIKE AND ABUJA ROADS*
Is’haq Modibbo Kawu
Today is Saturday, May 4th, 2024. I had an early appointment inside the precincts of Aso Villa. I live in the Gudu District of Abuja, so I came out of my residence and took the turn through the Gudu cemetery, and followed the direction towards Asokoro. That was where my “problem” commenced. I hadn’t driven in that direction for several weeks. After a while, I came upon construction workers that early in the morning, and further ahead, I noticed that I was literally heading into a maze. The roads had been opened up in several directions.
I’ve lived in Abuja for 22 years now, and with the surety of a native dweller of the FCT, I instinctively took a right turn and the next thing was that I found myself by the A-Y-A junction. Well, all was not lost, I thought to myself. I followed the road past the ECOWAS Secretariat, and further down, the road had been blocked! I turned round and made for A-Y-A again and took the under bridge turn, again with the false assurance that I would be led to the turn going into the presidential residence. And for the umpteenth time, I missed the turn. That was when I decided to consult the satellite navigation system; unfortunately, I missed the turn which I was directed to ply and I went further on the road till I found the older network of roads and I could conveniently orient myself in the proper direction. I arrived late to my destination but not much damage had been done in respect of my appointment.
Believe me, Abuja is changing in a lot of ways. But the most poignant and standout expression of the changes must be the incredible amount of work that’s been done on the road network since the commencement of the Tinubu administration. All over the city, the change is enveloping residents, and it is one aspect of infrastructural development that we can relate with.
My youngest kid attends a boarding school that is located in a serene location of the city. The drawback was the road leading to the school. Then Nyesom Wike happened as our FCT Minister, and he made a vow to revive the Abuja railways system. One of the problems associated with the light railway system was the absence of link roads into the city. My child’s school is located close to one of the railway stations. During one of the visiting days, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the access road that Nyesom Wike promised early in the life of the administration was already opened up. As we noted, that area of Abuja won’t be the same again. Property would appreciate, and a lot more commercial engagements would surface. Change indeed has come, and it is all around us.
When President Tinubu appointed Nyesom Wike as Minister of the FCT, there was quite some surprise about his choice for the position. Wike is the typically cantankerous politico, one that cannot live outside of the cloak-and-dagger proclivity associated with the most deadly province of Nigerian politics. He has lived through and carries the most brutal scars from the peculiar complexities of South-South politics in general, and its local manifestations in Rivers State in particular. Controversy has been his first nature. The question was, “How well could he make the transition into the different calculations of Abuja politics”?
As for immersion in the pits of the local politics of his state, Nyesom Wike is still the gladiator. He is sharply administering jabs and making desperate efforts to own his corner. On the opposite side, he faces a very formidable array of opponents, ready to cut him to size, if not to pieces! But I am not too sure that there’s the need for the onlookers to pity either Wike or his adversaries. That’s the politics that built and fortified each one of them. In the long run, they would either fight to finish, and one side is completely disabled; subdued; or cut to pieces! Time will surely tell.
But back in Abuja, Nyesom Wike is living up to the billing as a minister, and the good work that he is doing must be admired. That’s not without its controversies. But surely, can we ever build without controversy? The last FCT Minister that was worth the name and able to impact on the general state of our capital city was Nasir El-Rufai. It’s looking like Nyesom Wike is trying to prove a point too. The incredible amount of work being done on the roads is testimony to his determination. I think he is earning plaudits that the Tinubu administration can be very proud of.
In the lead to the 2023 general elections, I was part of a team that conducted pre-election training for members of the Nigerian police in the six geopolitical zones of the country. We spent a few days training at the counter-terrorism school outside of Port Harcourt, but lodged in a hotel within the city. It offered an opportunity to behold the work that had been completed and those still under construction, especially with the flyovers in the Garden City.
Against the backdrop of what he had done in the past in his home state, it probably shouldn’t have surprised us that within a year, Wike is burning his imprimatur on the roads of Abuja. We are certainly enroute to a much better federal capital. Over the previous eight years, the city went through a peculiar form of inertia driven by the lamentable incompetence at the helm of its affairs. Nyesom Wike is showing that a year can truly make a difference!
Yes the man seems cut out of the political cloth of controversy. He is the ultimate show man and a ruthless political operator. Wike is a master of political communication and he has the annoying ability to get on the political nerves of his opponents. He attracts controversy and political opprobrium the way bees are attracted to nectar. But give it to him; he knows how to fix roads and he is doing a lovely job with the roads of the Federal Capital Territory. A few weeks to the first anniversary, the Tinubu administration can be very happy about the changes enveloping Abuja, and I think the president will give Nyesom Wike a very firm handshake for his efforts.
Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, PhD., FNGE*; is Broadcaster, Journalist, and a Political Scientist.
The Osun State Government has said it has filed an application before the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to set aside the ex parte order restricting transactions on accounts operated by the state government over a $13.9 million arbitration award in favour of Gamji Nigeria Company Limited.
The government also assured the public that it had commenced necessary legal steps to vacate the order and protect the state’s interests through a judicial review of the arbitration award.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the government described the order as having been obtained through what it called non-disclosure of material facts to the court.
According to the statement, the arbitration award Gamji sought to enforce was also allegedly affected by several irregularities, prompting the state government’s legal team to approach the Lagos State High Court to challenge the award.
The government said the ex parte order of September 9, 2026 referenced an alleged arbitral award, but maintained that no such award was made against the state government in July 2024.
It clarified that the only arbitral award against the state government was issued in July 2026 and that the award was already being challenged by the government before the Lagos State High Court.
The government traced the dispute to a 2017 contract awarded during the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. It said the administration rejected a variation request by Gamji, particularly over the company’s claim that the state was indebted to it in the sum of $15,982,638.22.
The matter subsequently proceeded to arbitration, which the state government alleged was improperly handled in favour of Gamji, while the state was denied a fair hearing and full participation in the process.
The government said its legal team had already filed a suit at the Lagos State High Court on September 1, 2026, seeking to set aside the arbitral award before Gamji approached the Federal High Court.
It added that a motion on notice seeking to suspend enforcement of the award pending the determination of the suit was also filed and served on Gamji and its counsel.
According to the state government, Gamji was therefore aware that the award was being challenged before a competent court when it approached the Federal High Court to seek enforcement.
The government further alleged that Gamji failed to disclose to the Federal High Court that the validity of the award was already being challenged before the Lagos State High Court and that the company had been served with an application seeking to suspend enforcement pending the determination of the case.
The state government disclosed that it had also filed a motion on notice seeking to set aside the September 9 order and informed the Federal High Court of the circumstances surrounding the arbitration proceedings and the pending challenge.
It, however, said it would refrain from making further comments on the merits of the case because the matter remains sub judice.
The 20 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members kidnapped by gunmen in Imo State have allegedly been subjected to physical ass@ult by their captors, with the kidn@ppers reportedly reducing their ransom demand to N5 million per victim.
The graduates were abducted on Thursday while travelling from Ibadan to their NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were reportedly att@cked along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Imo State, while travelling in two buses.
A relative of one of the victims, Alhaja Alimot Akande, said the abd¥ctors initially demanded N50 million for each victim but had now reduced it to N5 million.
“They are still demanding N5 million. They have come down to N5 million each,” she said.
Akande also alleged that the abductors had started beating the victims, including the women.
When I spoke to my sister, they started beating them since yesterday,” she said.
Asked if the female victims were also being assaulted, she replied: “They are not sparing anybody. They are beating all of them.”
She said one victim was also allowed to speak with his father, with the abd¥ctors reportedly monitoring the calls to assess the family’s ability to raise the ransom.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government said it was working with the Imo State Government and security agencies to secure the victims’ release.
Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government was drawing on its experience from the recent Oriire abduction to assist efforts in Imo State.
“Oyo State Government had not and will not abandon its citizens. We will continue to work endlessly and desperately to secure the release of our children,” he said.
Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra State, has been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of its newly inaugurated substantive Vice-Chancellor, Professor Carter Dike Umeoduagu, barely 48 hours after assuming office.
Umeoduagu was formally sworn in as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of the university on Thursday, October 1, 2026, marking the commencement of his tenure.
However, the professor reportedly took ill on Saturday, October 3, two days after his assumption of office, and subsequently died.
His sudden death has sent shock waves through the university community, particularly coming at a time when the institution has been facing leadership challenges.
The development is also coming amid recent controversy over the leadership of the university, including disputes surrounding the tenure of the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eugene Okoye Nwadialor, and the emergence of an acting leadership structure.
The death of Umeoduagu, coming almost immediately after his formal assumption of office, has added a tragic dimension to the university’s recent leadership crisis.
Details of the circumstances surrounding his illness and death were not immediately available as of the time of filing this report.
The university community, academics, colleagues, family members and associates are expected to mourn the deceased academic and administrator, whose tenure as Vice-Chancellor ended almost as soon as it began.
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