By Olusegun Adeniyi
In 1979, the outgoing military administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo established the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA) to identify our country men and women (whether at home or in the Diaspora) who have made outstanding contributions to knowledge and creativity and grant them special recognition. The award is categorised under four fields of human endeavour: Science, Medicine, Engineering/Technology, and Humanities—including arts and culture. After a rigorous selection process, worthy candidates are awarded the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) with a certificate and cash prize by the President on the first Thursday in the month of December—although the cash prize has dwindled in value over the years.
From inception till date (46 years), the NNMA Governing Board has only conferred the prestigious NNOM award on a total of 79 Nigerians to demonstrate how exclusive it is. Past awardees include Professors Chinua Achebe, Idris Mohammed, Anya O. Anya, Akin Mabogunge, Umaru Balarabe, Niyi Osundare, Jacob Olupona, Barth Nnaji, Femi Osofisan, J.P. Clark, Ben Nwabueze, J.F. Ade-Ajayi as well as the late Mrs Ladi Kwali, Mr Bruce Onobrakpeya, and a few others who distinguished themselves in their chosen vocations outside the Ivory Towers. Interestingly, even though Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, delivered the first NNMA Winners’ lecture at the University of Lagos on 3 May 2012 titled, ‘Monumentalism and the Renaissance Dream: The Bane of Power Aesthetics’ and is recognised as an NNOM winner, there seems not to be a proper record of the year he was awarded.
Following the enactment of the NNMA Act in 1992 by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, the cash prize was reviewed to N5 million for each recipient. With the exchange rate in 1992 standing at N9.91 to a dollar, that put the amount received by each awardee for that year at $500,000. But with a progressive decline in the value of the Naira, President Goodluck Jonathan jerked up the prize money for each recipient to N10 million in 2011. Since the exchange rate at that period was N148 to a dollar, an awardee still received an equivalent of about $68,000. Meanwhile, funds for the cash prize and other activities, including calls for nomination/application advertisement, quarterly award winner lectures, payment for internal and external assessors, an annual forum of NNOM laureates, etc. are included in the NNMA annual budget.
At the investiture dinner in honour of two NNOM Laureates in December 2017, then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke on how the fame and glory of nations largely rely on the hard work, creativity and service of their best talents. “Consequently, any society that favours exigencies of any kind over merit has chosen to function at its sub-optimal level and greatness must, by the force of principle, elude it,” said Osinbajo. “High attainment, whether it be for individuals or nations, is a function of the priority given to merit.”
Unfortunately, the government Osinbajo served displayed a befuddling but not surprising disdain for merit by starving the NNMA of funds. But the current administration seems to have carried this contempt to a new level. In the 2024 budget, the NNMA received an allocation of N16 million (capital). It is from this ridiculous amount that the NNMA is expected to organize all its programmes and pay the prize money of N10 million that is now worth less than $7,000. To compound the challenge, the federal government is planning to merge the NNMA with the National Honours Awards. A bill to that effect is already before the National Assembly.
In a piece I wrote in 2012 titled ‘National Honours as Chieftaincy Titles’, I recalled what happened in 1996 when then Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, was said to have been handed a list of nominees for National Honours for that year, for the approval of the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) which he chaired. After going through the names, Abacha reportedly looked straight at the official who gave him the paper and remarked: “These are the Nigerians you think merit National Honours? More than half of the people on this list are crooks!” That year, no Nigerian was bestowed a national honour, and I really cannot recall if Abacha ever conferred any until he died two years later.
Therefore, merging the NNMA with National Honours is to subvert the entire idea. The NNMA is premised on the notion that sustained recognition of, and reward for, excellence, signals a nation’s appreciation for meritocracy, intellectual rigour and creativity. This is why the NNOM is the highest academic and intellectual award in the country, once likened to the Nobel Prize by President Jonathan. We know that the national honours award is secured by lobbying, cronyism and other unwholesome practices, while the NNOM comes with a rigorous selection process involving applications discreetly evaluated by eminent academic peers of integrity. How can the federal government put the two awards in the same pot?
I understand that the NNOM laureates (renowned professors who are mostly in their eighties and nineties) held a zoom meeting last week to lament how a noble idea to promote scholarship is being gradually bastardised in Nigeria. They have my sympathy. I just hope that President Bola Tinubu will not allow the NNOM to join the long list of Nigerian initiatives that have suffered egregious institutional degradation.
The Uromi Lynching of 16 Hunters
When the sacred duty of protecting lives and property is outsourced to unregulated and untrained security outfits comprised of personnel with questionable backgrounds, avoidable calamities are never far away. That explains the tragic fate that befell 16 hunters last Thursday at Uromi, Esan Northeast Local Government Area of Edo State. Travelling to their home state of Kano from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for the end of Ramadan festivities, the hunters were ambushed and gruesomely murdered by a local vigilante group. In a statement by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) spoke for many critical stakeholders in demanding justice for the slain hunters, arguing that their extrajudicial killing in “such a senseless and brutal manner…is a chilling reminder of the dangers of lawlessness.”
While I commiserate with the families of the deceased hunters, there must be a thorough investigation of not just the actors, but also those who could have averted the tragedy and dropped the ball. We should also not discount the incessant killings and kidnappings in Edo and other states that fuel these irregular security measures. The bigger tragedy, of course, is that the hunters wereprofiled as terrorists and kidnappers because of the language they spoke. In Nigeria, once you put a negative label on people, what follows is primordial hate mongering and its destructive grip. As I argued in one of my ‘Platform Nigeria’ presentations, while the social and economic bonds that unite us as a people may be strong, the rights of citizenship remain shackled by boundaries of state of origin, ethnicity and religion.
However, we must commend the traditional institution in the North, particularly the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, for the interventions to prevent reprisal actions that could lead to further bloodshed of innocent people across the country. Authorities in both Edo and Kano States, led by Governors Monday Okpebholo and Abba Yusuf respectively, have also demonstrated commendable leadership. Okpebholo visited Kano last weekend and met with families of the deceased hunters, promising to pay compensation. I am also impressed by the statement of Uromi community elders. In taking collective responsibility for what it described as an abomination without excuse, the Esan Descendants Assembly (EDA) pleaded through its chairman, Prof. G.R.A. Okogun and General Secretary, Mr Saint Moses Eromosele: “To the families of the slain, to the communities from which they came, to the states that raised them, and to the nation whose conscience has been wounded, we offer our deepest sorrow. We do not apologise from politeness, but from the pain of brotherhood. No man deserves to be judged by fire. No mother should receive her child in ashes.”
Meanwhile, the bigger challenge rests with the federal government. While the worsening security situation in the country has led to the proliferation of vigilante groups, authorities must also understand that these outfits are susceptible to the kind of jungle justice visited on the 16 hunters. This should therefore be another teachable moment. In an April 2022 report titled, ‘Managing Vigilantism in Nigeria: A Near-term Necessity’, the International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that while “Vigilantes have become so important to protecting the Nigerian public that for now the country has little choice but to rely on them… the emergence of ethnically exclusive groups threatens to stir up communal tensions.” Over the long term, according to the global NGO committed to preventing, mitigating and resolving deadly conflict, “Nigerian authorities need to rebuild trust in their capacity to protect the public without vigilante assistance through comprehensive police reform.”
Beyond the challenge of insecurity, we must all be concerned about the collapse of the mores that bind us together as a society despite the right to life being a universal principle contained in section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). That collapse accounts for how the law of the jungle operates, as we saw when the vigilante group doused the hunters in petrol before setting them ablaze along with their truck while onlookers recorded and cheered.
In so many ways, as I have argued numerous times on this page, Nigerians reflect their government. If a society is not compassionate, it is futile to expect the government to be. If a society has degenerated to the level of every man for himself, then we delude ourselves to expect anything better from government. The net result is a collective descent into a Hobbesian jungle where life becomes nasty, brutish, and short.
Aderemi Adeoye’s Desperation
I am aware that the former Commissioner for Police in Anambra State, Mr Aderemi Adeoye, is facing multiple court actions from some of his former ‘business partners’. But Adeoye imagines he can use me to ‘catch cruise’ by instituting a frivolous court case against me to demand N50 billion (the man surely loves billions!). When I received the papers two months ago, I decided there was no point writing about it since we would meet in court where Adeoye has questions to answer. But on Monday, he decided to be his own judge by going on ARISE Television to talk about the case he has instituted against me. He has forgotten, as the Yoruba people would say, that even when a wicked man reserves the right to state his case, he would not be the judge of the matter!
Of all the fundamental issues I raised in the two columns I wrote on Adeoye’s ‘Facebook company,’ including a possible conflict of interest and gross violations of the constitutional provisions on code of conduct for public officials, what he continues to parrot is the headline that calls him a billionaire cop. But since he has already gone to court, I wish he would shun needless propaganda. To make billions of Naira, Adeoye should concentrate on those Nigerians who are taken in by social media posts. I am not one of them! But for the benefit of readers who may not know the background to this matter, below is my last column in May last year titled, ‘CP Adeoye and Matters Arising’.
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Following my last Thursday column, ‘The Billionaire Police Commissioner’, Mr Aderemi Adeoye responded on his Facebook page, apparently for the benefit of his Alpha Trust Investment Club members who then circulated the message. “The publication (my column) is nothing but junk journalism. I will be appearing on ARISE Television by 9am tomorrow Friday 3rd May 2024 to show how unintelligent the article is and throw light on all issues surrounding renegade members antics to blackmail us,” Adeoye wrote on the platform. “If you are interested in knowing the truth in a no holds barred manner, please tune in.”
Last Friday morning, I watched Adeoye on ARISE as he tried to justify his actions, and I leave readers to their judgement of his performance. But I need to clarify a few issues concerning my column. One, did I check for the registration of Alpha Trust Investment Club at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)? Yes, I did. The search came up with five companies by similar names: Alpha Trust Nigeria Limited; Alpha-Trust Divine Resources Limited; Alpha Trust Company Nigeria; Alpha-Mage Trust Insurance Brokers Limited and Alpha Intercity Trust Securities Limited. But Adeoye made some clarifications on ARISE. “The name of this organization is Alpha Trust Investment Club. Our loan arm is registered as ATIC Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, which is registered with the Lagos State Government. We carry on investment under the business name of ATIC Ventures and Business Services and that is the name that is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)”, Adeoye said on ARISE. So, I concede that the business is registered, even though with a different name. But the devil, as they say, is in the detail. This business (ATIC Ventures and Business Services) has only three people listed as proprietors (not investors) at the CAC: Aderemi Olufemi Adeoye, David Kaykay Egbele and Akanbi Babatunde Olanrewaju. “Principal business activity: Real estate and importation of vehicles.” That’s what is on the official record with nothing about Alpha Trust Investment Club there.
If Adeoye says this company belongs to 1400 Facebook members, I choose not to contest that. The fact that he controls a business worth N20 billion doesn’t mean he is a billionaire, Adeoye told ARISE. That is also a valid point, especially since he explained that the 11 million shares that he alluded to in his PUNCH interview do not belong to him. Incidentally, a friend forwarded this message to me last Thursday for my response: “Good afternoon, Sir. I just went through this (link to my column added). Please, if you don’t mind. Can I have a brief audience with Mr. Segun Adeniyi. I don’t mind a tripartite call. I also don’t harbour any grievance based on the content of his piece. I only want to explain a few things. My brother is definitely not a billionaire, among other things. The investment club is registered with LASG as a cooperative. It’s not a company.” I declined speaking with the said brother but appreciated his point.
On the allegations by those Adeoye considers ‘renegade members’, I have received a deluge of messages from some of them. I have also received in my mail several unsolicited documents, including from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Lagos State Ministry of Commerce and Cooperative where the business is registered. My attention has also been drawn to Section 160 of the Investment and Securities Act, 2007 on ‘Authorization of Collective Investment Scheme’ that may have been breached. I have also seen a copy of the 8 March 2024 letter to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, personally signed by Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, on behalf of a lady who made damaging allegations against ‘the Chairman’ (Adeoye). Babalola ended the letter with an appeal to Egbetokun: “I passionately, but humbly, appeal that you use your good offices to investigate the matter, prosecute the perpetrator(s) for fraud and assist the said (name withheld) retrieve her trapped fund from the Scheme.” Since the issue between Adeoye and his Facebook Club members is of no interest to me, let me leave out the lurid details in the letter. Besides, it is also fair to say that I know members who defend Adeoye.
One of them, a very close friend and former classmate now based in Belgium sent me a message. “I am still a member of ATIC. The N20 billion belongs to ATIC and not to Remi Adeoye personally. I don’t think he needed to mention ATIC in his disengagement speech, but ATIC is not a Ponzi Scheme,” she wrote to which I replied that it was not me that described it as such and that I never even heard about Adeoye or the scheme until I read his police pull-out speech last week. My concern, I explained to her, is whether a public official could engage in such business. “I don’t know the rules of the police, but I know a lot of people have one business or the other on the side for their families,” she replied. I conceded this same point in my column last week: “I am not opposed to legitimate ‘side hustles’ without which it is difficult for professionals to stay afloat in Nigeria.”
Now to the questions I posed: “How could Adeoye have been diligent in his work as a law enforcement officer if he spent considerable time chasing money from people whose backgrounds he had no idea of—including those who could be criminals? Are there no regulations within the police that frown at a serving officer establishing and running a business venture, especially of this nature? Are police officers exempted from the code of conduct for public officials in Nigeria?”
Adeoye said that what he is running on Facebook is not a business. “So, we don’t have an office, we don’t have overhead costs, we don’t have employees, we don’t pay salaries, we don’t have a generator, we don’t have official cars. The only thing we spend money on is organizing our physical meetings and this is paid for by membership dues, which is N5,000 per member, per annum,” Adeoye said although he forgot to mention that the online club also has no website which we can be described as another ‘cost-cutting measure.’ But despite having no structure, Adeoye wants us to believe all the 1400 members were verified. “Usually, we demand to see a workplace identity card and we go further to verify it. We do background checks, and we insist that any member we admit must not have any criminal record. Those who have pending matters with EFCC are excluded.” I would have asked for how this extensive and obviously expensive vetting process (including of people abroad) is done and who the WE are but then, what is the point?
For a venture that has no support system (no office, no staff, no website, no vehicle), it is remarkable that Adeoye could undertake all these and still be diligent at his work, especially at a period Nigeria is facing huge security challenges: “We bought hundreds of plots at N750,000 per plot in 2019 and today each plot is worth N12 million. It is determined by the market price. We subscribed for 600 plots and in Ibeju Lekki we subscribed for five plots.” And on accountability: “We are not answerable to anybody, except to our members, the BOT, and the management for our record, unless you bring a court order for us to account to you. Everything we do is published for our members to read. At the AGM, our accounts are approved.”
Now to my interest on this matter. I am aware of the provisions of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 on code of conduct for public officers. Section 1 states: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.” And Section 10 states, “A public officer shall not be a member of, belong to, or take part in any society the membership of which is incompatible with the functions or dignity of his office.” These are Constitutional provisions. Even if we overlook several other things, should we not be concerned if a law enforcement official initiates a ‘Facebook business’ that would elicit being accused of unwholesome practices while still in uniform? Besides, Section 95 of Police Act, 2020 on ‘Private Business and Conflict of Interest’ states: “A police officer shall not, while in service, be directly involved in managing and running any private business or trade except farming”—the only vocation also permitted a public official by the Constitution.
Let me reiterate that I have nothing personal against Adeoye and I had no inkling of his problem with some of his Facebook ‘business partners’ until the Google search led me to the petition. And in writing my column last Thursday, as I do every week, the only motivation was public interest. My main concerns stem from issues of possible conflict of interest, divided loyalty, abuse of power/office and what I consider sacred lines that should not be crossed by public officials. For instance, all the certificates of shares issued to members that I have seen were all signed personally by Adeoye which means he was running the business while still in uniform, notwithstanding his claims to the contrary.
On Tuesday, Adeoye released an ‘ATIC UPDATE BROADCAST’ on his investment platform where he stated, “We need 10 copies of ThisDay Newspaper of Thursday, 4th May 2024 urgently (the day my column was published). We will pay N1,000 for each copy we can get. We want to make those who published falsehood against us pay for their perfidy.” I hope the retired CP does not include me among his enemies, but this is also public notice, in case anything happens to me. He then concluded his message: “I invite ATICIANS in Abuja Zone to join me at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja on Saturday for a Press Conference during which we will address the blackmail against our Club and Cooperative. We will have lunch together afterwards. The bill is on me. Members who are able to make it are requested to come in their ATIC Tee Shirts as top. We will hold preliminary discussions afterwards on our direction in business.”
Adeoye is now retired from the police, so he is free to undertake any jamboree. I am also aware that he has reported me to the THISDAY ombudsman, threatening to take legal action, which is fine by me. He doesn’t own the court, so we meet there. He said his shareholding is “just a little above half of” the 11 million ascribed to him. He also alleged that I am being sponsored by renegades and low-life criminals, which underscores why a public official, especially a policeman, shouldn’t get into such transactions in the first place. If he admitted low-life criminals to the club, what does that say about his judgement and the quality of checks he claimed was done before members were admitted into his Facebook Club? This venture raises serious ethical and legal issues, which still seem lost on Adeoye, possibly because he thinks he can bully people. But this is a public interest issue, and Adeoye cannot intimidate me.
While I await Adeoye’s legal challenge, relevant regulatory agencies and accountability agencies must be interested in this matter. If only to establish the appropriate boundaries (if any) for public officials in Nigeria.
ENDNOTE: Now that Adeoye has gone to court, he should stop his media campaign against me. That is another battle he cannot win!
• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com
