Columns

TINUBU’S ALBATROSS

Published

3 years ago

February 22, 2023

Ochuwa Ibrahim

2….

TINUBU’S ALBATROSS

BY CHRIS GYANG

New Zealand’s immediate past Prime Minister, Jacinta Arden, made history recently when she made the shocking declaration that she would not be seeking re-election and revealed that she would resign by February 7, which she proudly did. The PM had confessed that she was taking that step because she “no longer had enough in the tank” to continue “the most privileged job anyone could ever have.”

That is exactly what President Buhari should have done a long time ago. But in Nigeria, and most other African countries, leaders do not resign from their privileged positions even when, as we are painfully witnessing in Nigeria today, they have glaringly failed and the people are suffering as a result. Despite their shocking failures in the areas of security, poverty alleviation, sustaining federal universities, etc, how many ministers have either voluntarily resigned or even been sacked by Mr. Buhari?

In Nigeria, that January 19 announcement by Arden would have caused Buhari’s kith and kin to curse and shun him forever. This is because, again, in Nigeria, and indeed most of Africa, we see leadership as a position held in trust for your extended family of tribe and religion. You use the commonwealth to enrich members of your little circle. Which is why Tinubu has the confidence to unabashedly announce to the world that it is his turn to rule Nigeria, his overwhelming moral baggage and all. He also said that ruling Nigeria has been his life-long ambition – as if he was some special, providential, gift to the people.

It is this sense of entitlement that got us into this mess in the first place. Buhari, despite his string of failures as military head of state in the eighties, kept insisting to become a democratically elected president to the extent that his fellow core northerners took up his persistent desperation as a moral, religious and tribal crusade that must be won. That was why they threatened brimstone and fire. But when it took him some months to assemble a cabinet, it was very clear that the civilian president had not changed much from the military dictator – in terms of the dexterity to handle the rather complex and delicate ropes of governance.

And eight years later, the country is at a standstill. Not that we were making any appreciable progress before now with rising insecurity, spiralling inflation and poverty, etc, which had contributed to making life a living hell for majority of citizens. Now, Nigerians are caught in the excruciating web of two national tragedies that are but a signature of the Buhari administration’s spectacular wobbling in the last eight years.

We do not need to tell about the bewilderment and total surprise of Nigerians that they have to buy new naira notes at banks and other smaller currency outlets because Buhari’s government had a sudden brain wave and decided to change the colour of some of our currency denominations. Apparently, an afterthought.

Nigerians are gradually coming to terms with the fact that, even at the twilight of his reign, the imperious President Buhari has failed to solve the perennial fuel scarcity bedevilling the country, even as he himself occupies the position of Minister of Petroleum Resources. And our country, which is Africa’s largest crude oil producer, still exports the raw crude and imports the refined products. This, just like sleeping at filling stations to buy petrol, has become a normal way of doing things under Buhari’s watch.

But Nigerians should not forget that Buhari never “had enough in the tank” to begin with. He wanted to be president chiefly because of what we today know as emi lekon – brazenly manufactured and brusquely thrust upon us by the very people who have openly boasted that they single-handedly brought Buhari to power. But they are now joining in our lamentations because, first, it serves their shrivelled political ambitions and, second, they desperately seek to distance themselves from the debilitating stench emitting from the Buhari administration.

But it’s too late. The day of reckoning is almost here. Buhari and Tinubu are akin to Siamese Twins. Therefore, it is impossible for Tinubu to exempt himself of culpability from the current pains Nigerians are being subjected to by the Buhari administration. He is only now trying to distance himself from the glaring failures of Buhari because he has realised that Mr. President has become an albatross on his neck.

And only a few days to the presidential election, it is too late to shake it off. But, certainly, the yoke of suffering under which we are currently sweating can be shaken off, broken, through the ballot.

(GYANG is the Chairman of the N.G.O, Journalists Coalition for Citizens’ Rights Initiative – JCCRI. Emails: info@jccri-online.org; chrisgyang01@gmail.com)

TINUBU’S ALBATROSS

Columns

IBUAM: The Challenges of a Specialized University

Published

3 days ago

August 9, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

IBUAM: The Challenges of a Specialized University

By: Balami Lazarus

Universities are major parts of nation building. its growth, progress, and developments, among other human endeavors. They are known for adding value to human capacity in the realm of intellectual/skills productivity. Therefore,

Universities are playing significant roles in research and development (R&D).

Their core aims are translated into their objectives of teaching, learning, and character, knowing fully well that universities are the citadel of higher levels of educational attainment a country needs.

Whereof, universities are faced with volumes of challenges, both academic and non-academic, laying more in academic works and activities with demands in teaching, learning, and research.

When NEWSng visited the founder of Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management (IBUAM), Engr. Isaac David Balami, recently in Abuja in an attempt to follow up with the progress of this particular specialized private university, the only specialized academic institution in aeronautics and aviation management in academic disciplines/practicalities, including techniques and skills in aviation fields.

It is on record that IBUAM is the only private specialized university that trains and provides students with academics, practicals, techniques, and skills in aeronautics engineering fields and aviation management in sub-Saharan Africa.

Without prejudice, NEWSng has a fair understanding of the challenges our universities are faced with and are struggling to meet.

Be as it may, universities, whether specialized or not, are institutions for serious academic and intellectual studies where large funds are needed to run, manage, and cater to her teaching, learning, and research, including other services. In consideration of this, NEWSng commends kudos to IBUAM.

“I give glory to the Almighty. And let me state here with sincerity of purpose, appreciation, and gratitude to the Borno State Government under my able, progressive, and foresighted governor, Engr. Babagana Umara Zulum, who has made IBUAM see the light of day by her quantum support of sponsoring over 30 native students for various courses at IBUAM. The scholarship package runs in billions of naira. My gratitude also goes to well-meaning Nigerians who stood with me to make IBUAM a reality and the first of its kind on the African continent.”

NEWSng was further informed by the engineer. Isaac Balami, the IBUAM is not a conventional university where you have more academic theories and fewer practicals.

“Let me state here categorically that in IBUAM we are for both academic works and more practical applications. The aviation industry is all about safety, perfection, and security applicable to IBUAM in her courses. With this in mind, our challenges are more than a handful. The management spends hundreds of millions for just services. We are

We’re doing our best to see to the growth of this university. “Most people out there admired universities and their physical structures, including their names, without a second thought. “The aviation industry and its businesses the world over are not a tuft for unserious-minded businessmen or investors; everything surrounding the industry is all about money. Come to think of having a related academic institution (university) like IBUAM, whose objective is to produce graduates of international standard for best practices.”

Take for instance, a university with just three faculties: Sciences, Arts, and Management, with only 300 students. I suppose that, in your opinion, such a university is not impressive.

Thus, if you begin to consider what it takes to run and manage a university in terms of personnel, especially lecturers; facilities; tools; materials; and equipment, you will be shocked.

This has made NEWSng a reason why specialized universities like IBUAM need large funds to function. “You need more than two or three airplanes on the ground for practicals… excluding tax, insurance, and other charges to bring them.”

Reportedly, the challenges faced by a specialized university are much greater than what is commonly heard: “With the collective support of IBUAM management, we are progressing.”

The founder, Engr. Isaac David Balami, said that to bring the attention of the university closer to the people, the management has proposed to have an IBUAM liaison office in Abuja.

IBUAM: The Challenges of a Specialized University

Columns

Dadong: A Balanced Voice From Ungwan Rukuba

Published

2 months ago

June 25, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Dadong: A Balanced Voice From Ungwan Rukuba

By: Balami Lazarus

What does it take to be a public mouthpiece? That was the question I asked Comrade Dadong Solomon Antibas. My chats with him were a balanced interface. The answers can be found in the write-up for your review.

Democracy like ours has brought to the limelight public mouthpiece voices; some are weak and political, while others are strong, progressive, constructive, and fearless, demanding progress, growth, and development as dividends of good governance in a peaceful atmosphere.

Governments created by democratic processes are never left alone without citizens asking questions and demanding dividends of democracy for their community and the country at large.

Comrade Dadong Solomon Antibas is a Nigerian, law-abiding citizen. Antibas, a security expert and popular public mouthpiece on the Jos Plateau, has earned the confidence of the people of his community, Ungwan Rukuba, and most parts of the state over the years. For his community, he is their immediate mouthpiece who has been speaking on their plights, calling the attention of the government under the leadership of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang to do the needful.

Personality like Solomon Antibas’ public impression of him by some citizens of the state is all about seeking relevance and political appointments. “I have no interest whatsoever in any political appointment. My sincere concern for my dear country and my state, Plateau, is peace, progress, growth, and development for future generations.”

Nigerians should begin to speak out on good governance at all levels. Citizens are also responsible for failing to hold them accountable and demand good governance in terms of security, social amenities, and infrastructure.

Ungwan Rukuba is one of the wards in the Jos North Local Government Area. It is an integral part of the city center. Unfortunately, the peaceful Ungwan Rukuba became a flashpoint. The terrorist attack of March 29th, 2026, has put a scar of insecurity on the area.

On insecurity, he said that Mr. President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has failed Nigerians woefully. “Insecurity is a bone of contention. The federal government must take decisive measures on the insecurity challenges bedeviling the nation.”

My findings on Comrade Dadong Antibas revealed that he is not a public affairs commentator or an analyst but a progressive and active public mouthpiece, a voice of the voiceless.

For some, Dadong is attacking the government under the leadership of Governor Mutfwang. ” Is speaking the minds of citizens on bad governance and holding the government of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang a crime”?

Despite threats on Solomon Dadong, they have not deterred him from speaking for and on behalf of other citizens living in the state. “I have no other way to hold the government accountable than to publicly speak and constructively criticize the leadership’s voicing out feelings and lots of the people…In democracy, governments are made by the people, and as such, they must provide for the collective needs of the masses who voted them in.”

Comrade Antibas is one among the few indigenous people of Plateau who are outspoken and speak with passion and a patriotic mind for his state and Nigeria. “I will live and die in Nigeria speaking, advocating, demanding, and/or holding both federal and state governments accountable for good governance.”

Balami, Publisher/Columnist, 08036779290

Dadong: A Balanced Voice From Ungwan Rukuba

Columns

Facts for Understanding Capital Market Investment

Published

2 months ago

June 23, 2026

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Facts for Understanding Capital Market Investment

By: Balami Lazarus

I grew up in an academic environment where the language is the same: study well, have good grades and be what you desire to be in the future through academic discipline and training.

Many of my contemporaries and I were not spoken to in the language of trade and commerce. But here are some of us as businessmen, entrepreneurs, investors and in other business enterprises far from the academic language we were bred with.

There has never been a market like the capital market the world over where trade per day runs into billions of cash. While market capitalisation is in trillions. The case of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), now Nigerian Exchange Group, with its trade symbol (NGX) on the floor, is a good example.

Investing in the capital market is profitable for traders and short- and long-term investors. But understanding the market requires some basic facts, which are cash, knowledge, discipline and patience, important for investors to appreciate the market.

Recently a member of my social group came to me to seek my advice on what it takes to invest in the equity market (stock exchange). I was very candid with the fellow, informing him that he needs cash, knowledge, discipline and patience to invest in the capital market after having defined his position as an investor.

First an investor needs cash in his possession set aside to invest in the capital market, the gateway into the market. You can have the other three, but without cash you are not yet an investor.

Lack of knowledge about a business or investments has made so many persons lose money worth millions.

This is typical with good number of Nigerians who attempted to start a business or invest in some going concerns without basic knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of these investments or businesses.

The information and technology age has
made acquiring knowledge very simple; therefore, understanding the stock market is easy these days.

Basically, the capital market depends on and responds to information, government policies, and economic and political happenings/events within and without, which most often determines the graphic movements of the primary market deals on the floor. ‘Bullish’ or ‘bearish’ simply means the plus or minus of the day’s transactions.

The need for monitoring of the market is important for traders and short-term investors. However, with knowledge and careful monitoring of the market, it is a suitable place for short-term gains for investors with multiple numbers of holdings in blue-chip companies like Dangote Cement, Bau Foods, Nestle, Aradel, Okumu Oil Palm, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and others. But for long-term investors, whether the market is bullish or bearish, his investment portfolio is for future use.

Investments like those of the capital market, discipline and being committed are necessary to build a strong, high-quality, profitable portfolio of a large number of holdings of units spread over listed companies of the stock exchange that come with capital appreciation and dividends. This is important, especially for long-term investors.

And the turn key in this type of investment is patience. Generally investments need patience for them to mature for harvest.

In stock market investment, patience plays a vital role in this business. Therefore, for an investor who lacks patience, the capital market is not a tuft for him and shall never be.

To navigate through this market, investors must at all times apply this formula and have it printed on their hearts. Cash = stock units over time + patience = capital apreciation/dividends.

Today there are changes in the exchange which have improved trading. The time of trade has been extended to transactions and payments (T+1). Other electronic applications to aid and encourage investors in the capital market in an attempt to boost the Nigerian economy.

Balami, Publisher/ Columnist 08036779290

Facts for Understanding Capital Market Investment