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Will Prof Soyinka, Adeboye, Bakare, Protest Or Apologise?

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has shot himself so badly with his bold missteps on the planned protests. He cannot ask people not to protest. He should stop threatening them as he has been doing in the past few days. His approach is poor politics completely incompatible with the world-acclaimed political sagacity of the President.

Nigerians have been reminding the President that he led the protests against President Goodluck Jonathan 12 years ago. The essence of the protests that shut down Lagos and some parts of Nigeria was to get Jonathan out of office and get Muhammadu Buhari into office, all as the prelude to Tinubu’s already blighted presidency.

Professor Wole Soyinka was in that protest. Let us assume that at 90 he is too tired to join the peaceful protests, he can issue a statement condemning Tinubu’s flagging performance. If that is too heavy, too soon after Tinubu eulogised him on his birthday, Prof can still do something.

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Why not apologise to Nigerians for misleading them into following Tinubu’s scripts? Would that be too much too?

Your great scholarship and earlier sacrifices for Nigeria and Nigerians are daily diminished by your new twists and turns against the masses.
Where is Pa Enoch Adeboye, the great leader of men and women whose messages provide direction to his millions of followers? He followed Tinubu, protested, and preached about the hard times. Will he be at Lagos’ Freedom Park for a worthy remembrance party of how the exit of Jonathan has given us a better country? Is he unaware of the tough times? Does he expect that “It is well” will be enough to manage the situation? We know you are human. We agree you can make mistakes. An apology from you can assuage angry Nigerians. If you let the President know that if a protest was a good idea in 2012, it is a better idea in 2024, you would have played your part.

The 12th anniversary of that protest should be celebrated peacefully. The event of 2012 was peaceful because the government did not unleash unmitigated fury on the people. Why would a protest be banned?

Is Tunde Bakare against a peaceful protest? Can he tell us why? Can he say he has forgotten his roles at Freedom Square? Should he not tell us where he stands? We do not want to misinterpret his silence as support for Tinubu. How does he account for his involvement in the enthronement of Buhari and Tinubu?

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The trio should speak up. The time is ticking. Not only has the President refused to acknowledge that there are major challenges before Nigerians, but he believes he can continue postponing deploying solutions until the people forget their hardships. Each time he speaks, like Buhari, he gets people angrier through a consistent inclination to under-rate the problems.
Tinubu’s media managers are worse than him by far. They shout down views that draw their attention to the fact that they mobilised Nigerians against Jonathan in 2012.

Evidences are in abundance. Since Tinubu is special and the law bows to his wishes, they think Nigerians have had a memory wipe.

More threats have been issued to Nigerians in the past few days than in the entire presidency of Tinubu. The strategy is simple but outdated – threaten those who intend to protest.
Why is the President short of political sagacity, and economic measures, from his impressive management of the resources of the oil company he uses its name to tell us what a great wealth creator he has been most of his life.

The man who built Lagos for eight years and has had a hold on its chaotic economy does not know what to do with the higher responsibilities of his office. Is he at the end of his strategies? Did he even have any?

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His panic over a peaceful protest that had been announced long ago is embarrassing. He had enough time to start addressing issues the protesters raised. He would not.

Tinubu blames everybody as if his presidency is a joint responsibility of all Nigerians. He may not be clueless but he has no clues about what to do. Most times he appears unwilling to do anything.

A sudden discovery that filling the public space with noises that his second term is guaranteed would not be the bridge to cross to 2027, increases his panic. He has no answers to his worries. How would he have time to worry about others?

The resort to fractionalizing the country over his failures are new challenge from mismanaging the opportunities genuine dialogues provide.

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Tinubu, his past failed promises aside, does not feel our pains. He is incapable of feeling our pains having promoted his comforts well above our issues.

Hunger, anger, and insecurity have spread across the country though the impacts are heavier on some parts. Anybody willing to allow an ethnicisation of the situation is free to do so. Tinubu has no answers to the problems. Are people in Lagos excluded from these issues?
Almost all arms of the security agencies are threatening Nigerians. The right to protest is in abeyance. The President has not spoken against these threats by his security officials.

The security agencies have the tacit approval of the President to stop the protests in any way they deem necessary.

Others are discouraging the protesters with emphases on the futility of the protest. We are inundated with the consequences of protests.

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Even if the protesters want to be peaceful, the government does not want a protest.

Governors gathered to celebrate their latest largesse in refunds from the Federal Government are against protests. Their Chairman, Hope Uzodinma renewed the state of hopelessness with this explanation.

“This is so that we can manage the challenge of insecurity, the challenge of national minimum wage, the challenge of food security and then the struggle to come out of the current economic recession.

“We are using this opportunity to also advise our young boys and girls to desist from being instigated into causing crisis or chaos in the country.

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“Already, Nigerians have suffered a lot; the global economic recession, the insecurity in Nigeria, the political tension occasioned by instigations and campaigns of calumny by opposition parties, the social media attacks on various policies of government.

“We want to advise for the interest of the country and as a show of patriotism, our citizens must take ownership of this country because we have no other country we can call our own outside Nigeria,” Governor Uzodinma rambled.
President Tinubu should provide security for Nigerians to protest peacefully unless he can tell us why he led protests in 2012 for the reduction of the price of fuel, the only issue in the contest then.

Finally…
ALHAJI Aliko Dangote cannot be the dim businessman we are being made to believe he is because of problems with crude oil supplies to his refinery. How can someone invest over $20 billion to set up a plant without certainties on raw materials? Does it make sense? The explanations are more befuddling. Dangote should manage his refinery or sell it. I also hope Nigeria does not borrow money to solve Dangote’s problem.

I HEARD that Abia State will not protest. The people are over-fed on good governance and are satisfied, the Governor’s media aide, Kazie Uko, said.

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18 States Move To Block Trump’s Order Ending Birthright Citizenship For Immigrant Children In US

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A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday to block President Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating birthright citizenship.

Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump used presidential powers to initiate his long-promised immigration crackdown. His executive actions included an order directing the federal government to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates, and other documents to many children born in the U.S. whose mothers are in the country illegally or whose parents are not legal permanent residents.

According to CBS News, the lawsuit, filed by 18 states in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that Mr. Trump’s initiative violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which has long been interpreted by the federal government to grant citizenship to those born on American soil.

The cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have also joined the suit.

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The 14th Amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

“The great promise of our nation is that everyone born here is a citizen of the United States, able to achieve the American dream,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement to CBS News.

“This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice.”

The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the executive order and ultimately aims to have it invalidated.

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The states participating in the suit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

“The President’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

The states are asking the court to immediately block the order from taking effect.

Mr. Trump directed that his order should be enforced in 30 days.

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Burkina Faso outlaws colonial-era judicial wigs to embrace cultural identity

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In a historic attempt to decolonise the country’s judiciary, President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso has formally banned judges from wearing wigs from the British and French colonial eras.

President Traoré emphasised in his announcement the importance of eschewing colonial-era traditions and implementing customs that respect Burkina Faso’s cultural identity.

The action is in line with his larger plan to fortify national identity and declare the nation’s autonomy from outside influences. The colonial wigs, which have traditionally stood for outside authority in African legal systems, are gradually being abandoned.

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Covenant, ABU Emerge Top In Nigeria as 2025 world university ranking released

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Covenant University (CU) has again been listed as Nigeria’s overall best university in Times Higher Education (THE) 2025 Rankings.

In the 2025 rankings, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria came second, displacing the University of Ibadan which occupied the position for the 2024 ccrankings.

The Times Higher Education World Rankings is a comprehensive global ranking of universities published annually.

The 2025 rankings THE said it ranked more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories.

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Globally, Oxford holds on to the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, bolstered by significant improvements in industry engagement and teaching. MIT rises to second place, overtaking Stanford, which drops to sixth.

The ratings were done based on 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.

University of Oxford
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Princeton University
University of Cambridge
Stanford University
California Institute of Technology
University of California, Berkeley
Imperial College London
Yale University

Top ranked Nigerian universities

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1. Covenant University
2. Ahmadu Bello University
3. Landmark University
4. University of Ibadan
5. University of Lagos
6. Bayero University
7. Federal University of Technology Akure
8. Federal University of Technology, Minna
9. University of Benin
10. University of Ilorin

11. University of Nigeria Nsukka
12. Ekiti State University
13. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
14. Federal University of Technology, Owerri
15. Federal University Oye-Ekiti
16. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
17. Lagos State University
18. Nnamdi Azikiwe University
19. Obafemi Awolowo University
20. University of Port Harcourt

21. Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
22. Abia State University
23. Akwa Ibom State University
24. Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike
25. Ambrose Alli University
26. Baze University
27. Bells University of Technology
28. Benson Idahosa University
29. Bowen University
30. Delta State University, Abraka

31. Evangel University, Akaeze
32. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
33. Godfrey Okoye University
34. Lagos State University of Education
35. Lagos State University of Science and Technology
36. Nasarawa State University, Keffi
37. Niger Delta University
38. Nile University of Nigeria
39. Osun State University
40. Rivers State University

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41. Thomas Adewumi University
42. University of Cross River State
43. University of Maiduguri
44. Veritas University, Abuja

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