Re: Africa Intelligence’s “Tinubu still struggling to organise foreign ministry, one year after election”; Rebuffing the Falsehood Peddled by Africa Intelligence Article about the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry

By: John Okeyson

One of the fundamental principles of a true journalistic enterprise is objectivity and the propagation of truth based on research facts and data which enables the dissemination of concrete information to the public. The representation of facts is not only necessary but strengthens the democratic process in any society as it enables citizens to become aware of the true picture of things thereby eschewing falsehood and unfounded sentiments.

However, when a reputable media platform like Africa Intelligence jettisons the ethics of the journalistic profession to propagate assumptions and incorrect, it not only demeans the profession but questions the integrity of the media profession. It is for this reason that this reason that it is expedient to set the record straight with records to the allegations raised, particularly concerning the person and ability of the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.

Firstly, the article by Africa Intelligence commences by raising a false alarm regarding the state of affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is a clear pointer to the fact that the writer of the article had no objectivity in mind while writing the diatribe against the Minister and Ministry. The opening of the article reads; “Understaffed, a minister frequently absent from his home country, ambassadors recalled to Abuja… Nigeria’s foreign ministry is in disarray, even though the president has been chair of ECOWAS since last July.”

This statement is a clear testament to the unholy motive of the writer of the article as in one sentence it discredits and raises a false alarm by insinuating that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not been under a capable leadership since the administration of President Tinubu Administration by declaring that the “Nigeria’s foreign ministry is in disarray”, the writer also states albeit authoritatively that “a minister frequently absent from his home country” implying that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Tuggar has not been attending to his obligation not being around to oversee the affairs of the ministry. This portrayal is a careless display of lack of professionalism and dubious intentions on the part of the writer of the article, Africa Intelligence.

It is disingenuous for any follower of the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to suggest that the ministry is in disarray given the proactive disposition of the Minister who has been extremely active since he assumed office in August 2023.

Ambassador Tuggar upon assumption of office did not shy away from the ECOWAS crisis he met on the ground, he swiftly engaged in diplomacy to contain the multiple effects of the crisis that threatened ECOWAS’ existence by continually advocating for a diplomatic solution to the impasse rather than the military intervention earlier declared by ECOWAS before he assumed office. Until the recent allegation of sexual harassment against the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the Minister maintained cordial working relations ensuring that the programmes and activities of the Ministry went on as statutorily mandated by the ethics that foregrounds the operations of the Ministry.

There has never been untoward news about any crisis in the Ministry, the erstwhile Permanent Secretary Dr. Adamu Ibrahim Lamuwa discharged his role as the Permanent Secretary in the absence of the Minister even representing the Ministry on behalf of the Ministry while the Minister was attending to other official matters. It is therefore unfounded that Africa Intelligence would write that the Ministry has been in disarray.

There is no single piece of evidence advanced to back up such an outrageous claim by African Intelligence.
Secondly, the article alleges that foreign diplomats in Abuja have remained confused as a result of the absence of the Minister to attend to his official engagement with them. This is farther from the truth. The Minister has been very much available to receive and engage with diplomats in Nigeria since he assumed office in 2023.

Last year, he held a reception in honour of members of the diplomatic community where he formally met with the diplomatic community in Nigeria at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. Ever since, he has received and welcomed diplomats from around the world and when he is away on official visits, the Permanent Secretary took charge in discharging these responsibilities as contained in the various news reports obtainable in the Nigerian media.

Thus, it is false to suggest that the diplomats are confused with regards to their engagement in the country. A simple Google search would have averted this obvious misinformation by the writers of the article.

The Minister has been actively involved his duties both at home and away representing Nigeria at critical global events as it were. In 2024, the Minister has hosted the Secretary of State of the United States of America in Nigeria as he has done to other foreign envoys since assumption of office, thus, it beggars belief that anyone would suggest that the Ministers has not been living up to the responsibilities of his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is overseen by the Minister and the Permanent Secretary and since assumption of office, Ambassador Tuggar has pursued a collaborative system of administration where the Permanent Secretary takes full charge when the Minister is away on official duties. To suggest a gap in the administration of the Ministry is to insinuate that the Ministry has not structure and is not guided by ethics.

This is preposterous to say least that anyone would think that the Ministry suffers because the Minister is away on official duties outside the countries. It betrays a clear lack of research and information on the part of Africa Intelligence. It is appalling to think that Google is just a click away to verify the operations of the Ministry.

The Permanent Secretary is the statutory authority that provides oversight in the absence of the Minister and this status quo has not changed since the Minister assumed office.
The article also alleges that the Ministry suffers once the Minister is away on official duties because of the absence of a Secretary of State.

One might then ask what the role of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry if the activities of the Ministry would be halted because of the absence of the Minister the Ministry will function even without the presence of the Minister like it did before the Minister was appointed. Equally, the article insinuates that the “Tuggar is reputed to be less easy to get hold of than is predecessor, Geoffrey Onyeama, thereby suggesting that the Minister is inaccessible and a difficult leader.

This is a blatant fallacy invented by the writers of the article to paint Ambassador Tuggar as a difficult and inaccessible leader, almost suggesting him to be some sort of a dictator. This is clearly a manifest display of bias and hate towards a man they have not taken their time to understand.

It is sad that the noble profession of journalism has been reduced to a market place enterprise where people write without facts and recourse to the damage that they cause to the subjects of their vile vituperations often guised as social commentary. The sheer comparison of Ambassador Tuggar to Onyeama explains the insincerity of the writers of the article. It is not only a shame but a disregard for the noble profession of journalism.

The article also suggests that the acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ambassador Ben Okoyen is new therefore does not have the capacity to handle the affairs of the Ministry.

This is an indirectly attempt to discredit the rich credentials of Amb. Okoyen who is a season diplomat and civil servant versed in the affairs of Nigeria’s foreign and diplomatic relations. His recent elevation to the position of acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry does not mean that he is incapable or inexperience of discharging the affairs of the Ministry as the sponsors of the article want us to believe.

He remains an astute civil servant and diplomat versed in the affairs of Nigeria’s foreign relations. But for people bent on casting aspersions they would go to any length to paint anyone not in their paycheck as incapable of discharging their responsibilities as the tone of this insidious diatribe clearly suggests.

In conclusion, the article also states that Nigerian embassies abroad have been left without concrete leadership as a result of the recall of former ambassadors without stating the fact that these embassies have been under the direction of chargés d’affaires who are not only seasoned diplomats but who have the experience to oversee the affairs these embassies pending the appointment of ambassadors.

The article suggests chargés d’affaires lack the requisite knowledge to hold forth the mantle of leadership pending the appointment of new ambassadors but that is not the case in actuality as it is a common practice for nations around the world to send representatives pending the appointment of ambassadors to such places and the appointed individuals play central roles in maintaining and addressing the issues of their nations until the time when ambassadors are sent to take over from them. The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been transparent in its dealings ensuring that citizens are able to follow and appreciate the dynamics of governance, therefore to suggest otherwise is to belittle the realities that have led to the delay in appointing new ambassadors which neither the Ministry nor the Federal Government have shied away from addressing.

Perhaps what is most unprofessional in Africa Intelligence is the fact that there is no single sentence or paragraph that lay claims to having contact the authorities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of all the supposed issues they raised in their article.

This invariably suggest a deliberate attempt to malign and discredit the persona and office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs whereas the Ambassador has been one of the most proactive and result-driven Minister under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

John Okeyson: A Public Affairs Analyst writes from Lugbe in Abuja.

Re: Africa Intelligence’s “Tinubu still struggling to organise foreign ministry, one year after election”; Rebuffing the Falsehood Peddled by Africa Intelligence Article about the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry

Herbert Wigwe’s Death And The Black Box Metaphor

By Clem Asika

As an inquisitive teenager growing up,  I had always wondered why a certain black box was so important in an aeroplane that it was frantically searched for.

I thus considered as funny the frenzy with which the aviation authorities world over searched for it when an aircraft crashed.

What is so special about this mystery black box?  Why can’t these people just buy a box of any colour and then paint it black as a replacement for the missing one they always search for whenever there is a plane crash? My callow mind would always wander and wallow in wonderment back then!

Well, it wasn’t long before I got to know that a black box is a compendium of all that transpired in a plane shortly before a crash.

In a nutshell,  it gives aviators an insight into the cause of a crash or factors that lead to it.

This brings me to the tragic and heart-rending death, in a helicopter crash, of our dear brother, Herbert Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba and son, Chizzy, in faraway United States.

Before the unfortunate incident, Wigwe was one of Nigeria’s corporate Lords, a banking guru who sat atop Access Bank Holdings as CEO.

As I watched tears cascade freely down the cheeks of the high and mighty in the society during Wigwe’s burial rites, I immediately remembered the black box enigma, the aura around it and the significance it commands in the aviation world.

Yes, Wigwe and death, the grim reaper that snatched him away and dealt an excruciating blow to his family, friends and business associates, are metaphors for a black box.

According to John Donne,  the legendary English poet, “Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind”,  so the overflow of emotions at Wigwe’s funeral was natural.  It is only a non-living thing that will be unfeeling and unfazed in the face of such monumental loss.

But then, this uncomfortable truth: It was possible that many high flyers, men and women of timber and calibre, to borrow the late KO Mbadiwe’s phrase,  who wept generously at the late Access Bank boss’ funeral did so not necessarily because his death shattered them or because they love him but because he was their black box and his death and burial meant that the black box went with him to the grave,  never to be found or recovered!

Wigwe as a black box? Yes! And this is how and why: Slush funds and funds amassed under hazy circumstances may be sitting pretty good in Wigwe’s Access Bank( of course, without him knowing the source of such funds) and with the late financial wizard the only person with the code to the location of such funds.

If, before he died, he didn’t disclose the code for retrieving such funds to anyone, what it therefore means is that the funds,  like a piece of information in a crashed aircraft’s black box which was never recovered, have gone with the wind, lost forever hence the free flow of tears of the owners at his funeral!  You can now see the nexus or analogy between Wigwe’s death and a black box.

Former Central Bank of Nigeria,  CBN Governor and former Emir of Kano,  Alhaji Lamido Sanusi was one of the “weepers” at Wigwe’s funeral. Is he one of those affected by the loss of the “black box”?  No one knows but there is a viral rumour that he is a part owner of Access Bank.

Also, by his admission,  he entrusted his entire life savings in the care of Wigwe which he claimed was for the education of his children for he believed he would die before the late Acess Bank boss.

And talking about Sanusi, the ex-Emir’s opaque past flashes through the minds.

Sanusi’s tears at Wigwe’s funeral, his effusive words of love for Wigwe, his kind words for the departed banker, and his glowing tribute for him contrast sharply with his controversial persona.

When Sanusi and his paid agents talk glibly about building bridges and about his chummy relationship with the late Wigwe, an Igboman from Rivers, and how the latter stood by him when he was dethroned as an Emir, the late Gideon Akaluka, the young Igbo trader who was in 1995 beheaded by a band of Wahabist Islamic fundamentalists allegedly led by Sanusi for alleged discretion of the Koran,  will probably turn in his grave with indignation.

How come Sanusi is now posturing as a pan-Nigerian and a broad-minded fellow weaned of Islamic fundamentalism and ethnocentric tendencies? 

If indeed he has been bleached of the above toxic tendencies by the effluxion of time, then he should quickly explain to Akaluka’s family why their son deserved the cruel fate visited on him by him and his murderous gang of Wahabists.

Similarly,  if Sanusi has indeed weaned himself from an ethnoreligious and narrow parochial mindset as he demonstrated by his eulogy and tears at Wigwe’s funeral, then I think the family of Rita Oruru deserves not only a public apology from the dethroned Emir but a compensation for the trauma he caused them via his rabid Islamic zealotry.

Rita Ese Oruru, do you remember her and her pathetic abduction and forceful conversion to Islam under the superintendence of Sanusi as the Emir of Kano? 

Rita’s story is still fresh and leaves a deep hurt in the hearts: The abduction of Ese Rita Oruru, the youngest child of Charles Oruru and Rose Oruru, occurred on 12 August 2015 at her mother’s shop in Yenagoa local government area, Bayelsa State.

Ese, who was 13 years old at the time, was abducted by a man named Yunusa Dahiru (alias Yellow) and taken to Kano, where she was raped, forcibly Islamized and married off without her parents’ consent.

The forced conversion and marriage took place in the palace of the then Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. 

Similarly, Southern Nigeria deserves an apology from ex Emir Sanusi for his sectional inclination while he held sway as the CBN Governor. 

Recall that as the Governor of the apex bank,  Sanusi brazenly sited all the Social Corporate Responsibility interventions of the apex bank in the North. 

Meanwhile, for Sanusi and his likes who may have lost a precious black box by Wigwe’s untimely and tragic death, I say ndo, pele, sorry.  Such is life, take heart! 

Clem Asika writes from Ibusa, Delta State

Herbert Wigwe’s Death And The Black Box Metaphor

Surviving Lassa fever in Nigeria: The stories of Ngozi and Oluchi

By: Michael Mike

“My mother-in-law asked me how I was feeling, and I told her I was fine, but I knew I was not,” says Ngozi, a 28-year-old petty trader from Abakaliki. “I was stooling, vomiting and couldn’t keep my eyes open.” After trying various treatments at home, Ngozi was taken to hospital in Abakaliki, in southeast Nigeria’s Ebonyi state, where she was diagnosed with Lassa fever. “After two days there, my health deteriorated and I even lost consciousness at some point,” she says.
Lassa fever is a haemorrhagic fever that causes serious damage to various organs, reducing the body’s ability to function. The virus is contagious and can spread from person to person via bodily fluids, including saliva, urine, blood, and vomit. The disease affects 100,000 to 300,000 people every year across Western Africa and causes around 5,000 deaths. Last year in Nigeria, there were 8,978 suspected cases and 1,227 confirmed cases of Lassa fever (Nigerian Centre for Disease Control).
The city of Abakaliki has seen repeated outbreaks of the disease since 2018, when an MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) team arrived to help identify people with symptoms and care for patients in Alex-Ekueme Federal Teaching Hospital (AE-FUTHA). Around 600 km further north, a second MSF team has been helping care for patients with Lassa fever in Tafawa Balewa hospital, Bauchi state, since 2022. Last year, the two MSF teams cared for 618 patients with suspected or confirmed Lassa fever.
Spread by rats
Lassa fever is spread by a species of rat which is found mainly in three states in eastern and southern Nigeria: Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi. When infected rodents feed on food that is left out, they leave traces of the virus via their saliva and faeces. The disease usually peaks in the dry season when rats scavenge for food around people’s houses.
“Transmission of Lassa fever occurs throughout the year, but large seasonal outbreaks occur during the dry season, from December to April, when rats leave the fields to find food from other sources, such as people’s houses,” says Ben Uzoma, MSF health promotion manager.
To help tackle the disease at source, MSF has launched a ‘vector control strategy’ in local communities in Abakaliki, which includes setting rat traps, using rodenticides and sharing health information messages on proper waste management, food preparation and storage.
 
Diagnostic difficulties
When a person is infected with the virus, they may experience symptoms including a fever, body aches, a stomach-ache and vomiting – symptoms very similar to those of malaria, which can make it difficult to identify cases of Lassa fever in a timely manner.
Oluchi, a 26-year-old mother of four, from Ebonyi state, does not know how she contracted the disease, but she recalls when the symptoms started. “I started having a high fever and was vomiting,” she says. “My husband took me to a private hospital, where I was administered malaria medication, but the symptoms only worsened. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with me, so they referred me to Alex-Ekueme hospital to test for Lassa fever.”
To help detect cases of Lassa fever early, MSF has developed a screening form in collaboration with Alex-Ekueme hospital, with which healthcare workers can spot suspected cases by recording and analysing patients’ general and major symptoms and matching it with their health history and contact with rodents or an infected person.
Patient care
As soon as a patient arrives at AE-FUTHA with suspected Lassa fever, they are admitted to the hospital’s isolation centre, built by MSF. Patients who test positive are immediately moved to the ‘virology unit’ for treatment. This barrier measure is put in place to separate Lassa fever patients from other patients and minimise the risk of infection for healthcare workers and patients’ relatives.
“After my test came out positive, I started receiving treatment,” says Ngozi. “They gave me food, water, and everything I needed. So many doctors and nurses constantly checked on me throughout the day, and after seven days my test results came out negative.”
Emotional support
Contracting Lassa fever can take a toll on one’s emotional and psychological wellbeing. MSF mental health teams provide counselling and psychosocial support to patients with suspected or confirmed Lassa fever throughout their hospital stay, through individual and group discussions, as well as playing games and doing puzzles.
“My healing was rapid and I received a lot of support from mental health counsellors,” says Ngozi. “They were always present during my treatment.”
Oluchi’s experience with Lassa was so harrowing that she thought she was going to die. “I got so scared at the thought of dying – I was terrified,” she says. “But one of the MSF mental health counsellors came often to comfort me and told me not to worry.”
 
 
Before discharge, patients are provided with information on expected symptoms and potential mental health impacts, so they are well-informed and prepared for life as a survivor of Lassa fever. Patients’ families also receive support from the mental health team to help them understand and deal with their relatives’ condition. “At the time, I was short-tempered,” remembers Ngozi. “Thankfully, my family understood why, as the mental health counsellor had informed them beforehand.”
Challenges of tackling Lassa fever
Despite MSF’s efforts, challenges remain in tackling outbreaks of the disease in Nigeria. These include a lack of awareness among health workers, a shortage of training and research on Lassa fever, limited resources in comparison to the cost of treatment, and limited access to healthcare facilities. Alex-Ekueme Federal Teaching Hospital is the only treatment centre for Lassa fever in southeast Nigeria, while most hospitals across Western Africa are not fully equipped to handle complex cases.
Meanwhile, for many people with symptoms, seeking medical attention in a hospital remains the last choice. Sick people usually start by consulting medicine sellers or traditional healers, with the result that patients often show up late at hospital with severe complications. By this stage, their chances of survival may be slim.
Survivors of Lassa fever also often face stigma from their communities due to a widespread lack of knowledge about the disease; some people mistakenly believe that survivors are contagious and that catching the disease is a sign of poor hygiene or a punishment from God.
“When I returned home, I was excluded by my peers,” says Oluchi. “There was a rumour going around that I had been in the mortuary because of how skinny I was. People were running away from me because of the contagious nature of the disease.”
After leaving hospital and returning to their communities, survivors continue to receive support from MSF’s mental health staff, who do their best to ensure that they are reintegrated back into their communities.
Working with communities
At the same time, MSF health promoters work with communities to counter misinformation and lack of knowledge about Lassa fever. “We let people know that those who have been treated and cured from Lassa fever are no longer contagious,” says Uzoma.
During the peak season of the disease, MSF’s health promotion teams organise health education and community engagement activities, targeting religious centres, markets, and schools in hotspot areas. With the help of flyers, leaflets, flip charts, demonstrations and radio spots, the teams share information on Lassa fever and make sure that people know where they can receive free medical care.
The work of MSF’s health promoters continues year-round. “We know that behavioural change does not happen instantly and that we must continuously talk about it before people start changing,” says Uzoma.

Surviving Lassa fever in Nigeria: the stories of Ngozi and Oluchi