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Politics › Re: "No Policy Of Tinubu Has Really Made Anyone Hungry" - Ayobami Oyalowo by malali: 10:50am On Oct 15

Irritating characters like this should not even be given an audience. To the discerning eye, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Nigeria is heading towards an election that may be little more than a democratic charade.

The president has already announced that he will not be campaigning, yet this is the same president who can travel to France at the slightest opportunity. Somehow, when it comes to campaigning in Nigeria’s battleground states, the enthusiasm suddenly disappears. One is left wondering what exactly the political class knows that the rest of us are not being told.

The systematic pressure on opposition governors, with the EFCC seemingly hanging over their heads, has raised serious questions about whether political defections are genuinely voluntary or the product of calculated intimidation. Even the opposition parties themselves appear suspiciously lethargic, almost as though everyone is playing a predetermined role in a Nollywood production whose ending has already been agreed upon behind closed doors.

At this point, one cannot help but suspect that the real negotiations have already taken place, and what we are witnessing is merely political theatre designed to give Nigerians the illusion of a functioning democracy.
This could well turn out to be the least competitive second-term election in Nigeria’s history. The political class appears to be playing its own game, while ordinary Nigerians are left watching an elaborate performance in which the outcome may have been settled long before the curtain rises.
We are not witnessing democracy at its finest; we may simply be witnessing its most elaborate mockery.

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Health › Re: NAFDAC Seizes Counterfeit Alcoholic Beverage Packaging Worth ₦200m In Aba by malali: 6:11am On Oct 15*

Nigeria must declare war on fake and adulterated alcoholic drinks.

People are dying, yet the government continues to spend billions treating preventable health problems, including kidney failure and other complications linked to toxic substances.

Punish the perpetrators, not the public. Establish a strict licensing system for liquor distributors. Require clubs, hotels, retailers and other bulk buyers to purchase only from licensed, traceable suppliers. Conduct regular inspections, revoke licences, seize counterfeit products and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

With Detty December approaching, Nigeria cannot afford to gamble with the health of its citizens and the safety of international visitors.
The consequences go beyond public health: one international health warning can damage tourism, investor confidence and Nigeria’s reputation.

Mr President,order the appropriate ministries to stop treating the symptoms while criminals poison the people. Regulate the supply chain, enforce the law and hold those responsible accountable. Protect lives before the world stops trusting what Nigeria serves.

Sanitizing this sector alone can create 50,000 new jobs, payable by fines generated from enforcement. The government doesn't need to pay out of pocket.

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Crime › Re: NAFDAC Uncovers Counterfeit Alcohol Stores In Lagos by malali: 7:37am On Oct 14

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Business › Re: Dangote Refinery Extends $1.6 Biliion IPO To October 27 by malali: 7:34am On Oct 14

If you want to buy an umbrella at a cheap price and get a good deal.......buy it during the dry season.

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Politics › Re: Tinubu Won’t Abandon Nigerians Amid Fuel Price Hike — FG by malali: 10:18am On Oct 13

Nigeria’s energy policy needs a reality check.

While governments around the world are taking emergency measures to cushion citizens and businesses from the Iran-driven energy shock, Nigeria appears far too comfortable watching the consequences pass straight through to consumers.

More than 100 countries have introduced measures to deal with the energy crisis. Governments have cut fuel taxes, released strategic reserves, introduced price brakes, eased transport costs and provided targeted assistance to industries and households. Austria introduced a petrol-price brake. Australia released petrol and diesel from reserves. Turkey reduced fuel taxation. The G7 has now agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel to help stabilize markets.

What is Nigeria doing?

Fuel prices feed directly into transport costs, food prices, logistics, manufacturing, construction and ultimately household purchasing power.

The answer doesn't necessarily have to be a return to the old petrol subsidy system.

There are other tools:

temporary fuel-tax relief, strategic reserves, targeted transport support, emergency diesel measures for critical industries, accelerated domestic crude supply, competition enforcement, and transparent rules governing refinery and import markets.

The objective should be simple:

Protect Nigerians from an extraordinary external shock without recreating the structural problems of the old subsidy regime.

What Nigerians should not have to accept is a government standing on the sidelines while petrol and diesel prices work their way through every single corner of the economy.

There is an energy-security problem, and Nigeria needs an energy-security response.

All the painful reforms implemented by Tinubu’s economic team, Cardoso, Edun and Oyedele, risk being undermined by one major problem: uncontrolled petrol and diesel prices.

You cannot fight inflation with monetary policy while allowing energy prices to become a massive inflationary shock.

The CBN is cutting interest rates just as fuel costs threaten to push inflation higher. That makes little sense to me.

Petrol and diesel don't just affect motorists. They affect transport, food, logistics, manufacturing, electricity and virtually every business in Nigeria.

You cannot put out an inflation fire with one hand while pouring petrol on it with the other.

If energy prices are allowed to spiral, what exactly were all these painful reforms supposed to achieve?

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Business › Re: Dangote Says Refinery’s EBITDA Tops $5.5 Billion, Signals Record Third Quarter by malali: 8:40am On Oct 13

Ankakh:
This part. That statement was part of the share sale presentation, so basically, it's a pitch to more subscribers. And most subscribers are actually buying the "billionaire's projections".

Audited results over a few consecutive quarters will show the true picture. Not to talk of the potential unravelling from the geopolitical arena.

I concur.

Business › Re: Dangote Says Refinery’s EBITDA Tops $5.5 Billion, Signals Record Third Quarter by malali: 7:06am On Oct 13*

EBITDA is not profit, and profit is not cash in the bank. Dangote's $5.5 billion headline sounds impressive, but it excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and says nothing by itself about capital expenditure, debt repayments or free cash flow.

A refinery of this scale is still in its early operating phase; record margins and high throughput today do not prove it can sustain those economics through a full market cycle. We need audited results, several consecutive quarters of net profit and positive free cash flow before declaring victory.

Investors are buying a business, not a billionaire's projections. Show us the cash left after the bills, the debt and the reinvestment, not just the EBITDA used to sell the IPO.

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Business › Re: Nigeria Spends 124% Of FG Revenue On ₦7.7 Trillion Debt Interest In 6 Months by malali: 7:05am On Oct 13

Nigeria is officially drowning in debt. The government spent ₦7.7 trillion on interest alone, 124% of its entire federal revenue! Imagine earning ₦100, spending ₦124 just servicing loans, and still needing money for food, rent and electricity. That's Nigeria's fiscal reality.

Even worse, capital spending reportedly collapsed to just ₦700 billion. Money that should build hospitals, roads and schools is being swallowed by debt. It's going from bad to worse, and Nigerians have every right to question whether those managing the economy have a coherent plan.

With fuel prices rising and inflation still punishing ordinary people, monetary policy, Interest rates are being cut. Global interest-rate policies are actually on the rise due to inflationary pressure, you can see this in the USA,UK,Germany and even Japan, but Nigeria is cutting rates surprisingly.....Makes me wonder, do they really know what they are doing ?

Where is the accountability, and where is the exit strategy? Is the government planning to run the country to the ground ?

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Politics › Re: Petrol Discount Or Subsidy? - Daily Trust by malali: 10:22am On Oct 09

The time for truth and accountability is now. President Tinubu should come forward and give Nigerians a clear account of the country's economic reality.
How much revenue is Nigeria gaining from the Iran war and rising global oil prices?
Is there a windfall or fiscal surplus?
If so, where is the money?
What has happened to the savings from petrol subsidy removal? What are the actual gains from foreign exchange reforms?
How much is going to the federal government, how much is being shared with governors, and where is the evidence of these additional revenues in the lives of ordinary Nigerians?

Mr. President, Nigerians deserve a comprehensive State of the Economy and Public Finance Report: where we were before these reforms, where we are today, and where we are heading.

We cannot keep celebrating rising reserves and impressive economic statistics while citizens battle inflation, hunger, unemployment, and a collapsing purchasing power. Macroeconomic progress that does not translate into microeconomic relief is progress that millions of Nigerians cannot feel.

Yes, reforms can be painful, and results may take time. But sacrifice without transparency and hardship without measurable outcomes will only deepen public distrust.

This administration must provide solutions tailored to Nigeria's peculiar problems, not simply ask Nigerians to endure while celebrating numbers they cannot eat.

Mr. President, open the books! Publish the figures! Explain the savings! Show us the results! Hold your ministers and governors accountable!

Governance is not a public relations exercise. The real measure of economic success is not how much money the government claims to have accumulated, but how much better Nigerians are living.
Nigerians deserve answers, not slogans. The time for truth-telling is now!

Crude Oil is over a $100, we were borrowing money when it was $30, during Covid. Now that we are getting over a $100 from each barrel, why are Nigerians not feeling the change ?

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Politics › Re: The NNPC Retail Discount Is Not A Subsidy, No Public Money Is Involved - FMF by malali: 10:02am On Oct 09*

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Business › Re: Share Your Experience On How You Escaped Poverty by malali: 8:46pm On Oct 08*

The day my ancestors,erased poverty from my bloodline.
March 16th 2020.

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Politics › Re: Port Harcourt Refinery Workers Threaten Shutdown Over 7 Months Unpaid Salaries by malali: 9:50am On Oct 07

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Business › Re: Dangote Stops Petrol Sales To Fuel Importers by malali: 8:35am On Oct 06

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Politics › Re: 66th Independence Day Address by President Bola Tinubu (Text in Full) by malali: 9:31am On Oct 01*

The presidency should do better.

"I am also conscious that millions of our fellow citizens cannot wait for tomorrow. Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work. Their circumstances did not begin with the reforms of the last three years. Their struggle is the accumulated consequence of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient opportunity and institutions that too often failed those who needed them most."

Everybody knows what Nigeria’s problems are. You have had 3½ years to address them.

You promised agriculture. Billions have been committed to agricultural loans and tractors. Where is the measurable improvement in food production, food prices, farmer incomes and food security?

You promised security. Yet Nigerians are still being killed, kidnapped and displaced. When citizens are harmed by agencies of the Federal Government, including allegations involving security and civil-defence personnel, the government has a duty to investigate, prosecute where warranted, and protect the public.

You promised to fight corruption. Nigerians deserve to see completed investigations, transparent prosecutions, convictions and recovery of stolen public funds—not simply announcements and allegations.

You promised reliable electricity. Yet households and businesses continue to spend heavily on generators, diesel, petrol and alternative power. If government offices themselves are still turning to major solar projects, what does that say about the electricity Nigerians receive every day?

You promised jobs and economic opportunity. Nigerians want to know: Are there actually more decent, productive jobs today? Are young people earning more? Are businesses hiring more?

And that is ultimately the question.

Beyond the polished speeches, economic statistics and carefully constructed metaphors, what has objectively improved in the day-to-day life of the average Nigerian?

Can an ordinary family:

1-buy food more affordably?

2-find a decent-paying job?

3-run a small business with reliable electricity?

4-travel safely from one city to another?

5-access affordable healthcare?

6-send their children to school without financial crisis?

7-farm profitably without losing crops to insecurity and poor infrastructure?

7-obtain credit without crippling costs?

8-live with greater purchasing power than three years ago?

These are the outcomes Nigerians can actually feel.

Governments should ultimately be judged not by how convincingly they explain the problems they inherited, but by whether ordinary citizens can see and feel measurable improvements in their daily lives.

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Jobs/Vacancies › Re: Dangote Group Announces 77 Job Vacancies Across Nigeria, Africa - Apply by malali: 9:11pm On Sep 29*

The analysis of dangote shares:

You build a Cow farm(petrol refinery) when meat is scarce(Iran war) all over the world for $20. You make $2 profit in your first year. Then you ask people to pay $48 for the whole business.
They should ask: “Will you really keep making $2 every year?” (What happens when the war ends ?} Profit during surge shouldn't be calculated as regular day to day profit.

That's the Dangote question.
- Refinery cost: about $20B
- IPO valuation at ₦525: about $47–48B
- Recent annualized profit: about $5B equivalent (Which is only high because of the war in Iran)
- That means investors are paying roughly 13× annualized profit.

The refinery may become extremely profitable, but ₦525 already assumes a lot of future success before we have many years of proven profits and free cash flow.

Simple lesson: IPO should be priced in today's worth ≠ IPO should not be projected profits

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Foreign Affairs › Re: Russia Planning Drone Attacks On Italy, Spain And France - CIA Warns by malali: 6:50am On Sep 26*

All the countries that are pro "Free Palestine" are being warned.

You would be blind and ignorant not to notice, these countries are all pro Palestine.

So they are being "toned down"

"Watch out for Russia".........Then, when they finally stage another attack(false flag) on them, they will blame it on Russia.

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Business › Re: Kenya President Visits Dangote Refinary In Ibeju, Lagos by malali: 5:41am On Sep 26

professorPABX:
What is your problem with Dangote? We have done serious analysis on people making negative statements against Dangote Refinery's IPO on different Social Media platforms and discouraging investors and found out about 95% of them are from the same people. Dangote is not on competition with anybody. This is not DANGOTE and IBETO Cement issue. This is not the case of investors investing locally to build industrial revolution while another is doing importation and packaging in Port Harcourt.

We have institutional investors and International business communities observing what is happening in Nigeria. Frustrations and bitterness should not make you de-market and blackmail a Nigerian Brand being projected to the World.

It’s a free space, everyone is entitled to an opinion.

But let’s not confuse capital markets with capital extraction.

When Microsoft IPO’d, ordinary investors who got in early created enormous wealth.
Apple? Same story.
Walmart? Same story.

That’s what functioning capital markets can do: companies raise capital, investors participate in the upside, and wealth gets created on both sides.

Now show me one Nigerian who became a millionaire from investing in Dangote’s IPOs.

Just one.

Because from where I’m sitting, the only person getting richer from buying Dangote IPOs is Dangote.

An IPO is supposed to be a wealth-creation machine—not a one-way ATM where the public supplies the cash and the promoter keeps the jackpot.

If ordinary investors aren't getting rich alongside the founder, what exactly are they investing in?

Business › Re: Kenya President Visits Dangote Refinary In Ibeju, Lagos by malali: 2:55am On Sep 26

Dangote Refinery IPO is a scam

The IPO is aggressively priced and based on the evidence available feels more like hype than demonstrated value

A roughly 20 billion dollar construction bill being used to justify a roughly 50 billion dollar valuation while floating only about 3.3 percent without a long independently demonstrated record of recurring quarterly profits is a major valuation red flag

He is selling it to you like a company that has already declared 20 years of steady profits

Imagine buying a goat for 20 naira I pluck a few hairs from the goat sell them to you for 10 naira and tell you that is 3 percent ownership Then I promise that when the goat delivers you will get 3 percent of the profit

If the baby goat sells for 10 naira I can decide to give you 1 naira and reinvest the other 2 naira

That is the problem

Instead of buying tiny pieces of someone else's goat business why not find other investors and build your own

Dangote did not become the richest Black man by sharing profits generously with shareholders

Name 3 people who became dollar millionaires by investing in Dangote companies

In America plenty of people have built wealth by investing in companies because those companies actually return profits to shareholders

Do not let the IPO hype make you forget what you are actually buying

Investment › Re: She Invested ₦11k In Dangote Shares In 2007, See What It Became (Photos/Video) by malali: 11:05pm On Sep 25

Dangote refinery IPO is a scam.

The IPO looks aggressively priced and, on the evidence available, I’d regard it as more hype than demonstrated value.
A ~$20B construction bill being used to justify a roughly $50B valuation,

while floating only ~3.3% and without a long, independently demonstrated record of recurring quarterly profitability, is a major valuation red flag.

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Business › Re: NMDPRA Uncovers Fuel Under-Dispensing At Filling Stations Nationwide by malali: 6:15am On Sep 23

The government needs to step in on fuel prices.

Removing the subsidy allows petrol to sell at market rates under normal conditions.

But war in Iran is not a normal condition. This is precisely when government should intervene with targeted fiscal measures to cushion vulnerable Nigerians.

Nigeria cannot pretend the economy can comfortably survive petrol at ₦1,500/litre.

Fuel is the blood of the Nigerian economy.

We need an economic state of emergency before this becomes a broader crisis.

If Nigeria has saved so much money from petrol subsidy and Forex subsidy.....why are we suffering more than when, we actually lost money paying all the subsidies ?

Politics › Re: FG Inaugurates Committee To Probe Niger Miners’ Deaths by malali: 10:51pm On Sep 22

franvincoop:
Bros, I dey like your writeup but dis time u overdo.

Upon all the investigative bodies wey full FGN, na this unconstitutional committee wan come investigate abi?
No problem...
For me, dis committee na burial committee and the report from dis committee go dey gather dust or better still dem go use am tie akara.
Anytime you hear committee for FG, knowsay dem wan bury the case.
Minister say na President authorize the formation of the committee, which President?
President wey hand over power to VP b4 e go vacation according to constitution, or the VP wey don go US or na Senate President wey dey Rome?
Who really authorize this committee?

I agree with you, this is an illegal committee. The right committee should be a congressional bi-partisan committee, involving members of all the major parties in the country.

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Politics › Re: FG Inaugurates Committee To Probe Niger Miners’ Deaths by malali: 10:28pm On Sep 22*

This is not the time for the government to investigate itself and call that accountability. The Minister of Interior, whose ministry supervises the NSCDC, should be summoned to explain what happened under his watch, not placed in a position to oversee the process.

A matter this grave demands a public, independent National Assembly hearing, with a genuinely cross-party committee and representation from the major political parties. The Senate must exercise its constitutional oversight powers and summon everyone who has answers to give, including the Minister.

You cannot have the executive investigating an agency under its own ministry and expect Nigerians to simply accept the result as independent accountability. Immunity is not impunity. Office is not a shield. Uniform is not a license. And government authority does not erase responsibility.

Thirty-seven Nigerians died in government custody. That demands more than condolences and an executive-appointed committee. It demands sunlight, sworn testimony, evidence, accountability and consequences wherever the evidence leads.

Let every state and every security agency watching understand this: Nigerian lives are not expendable. If public power is abused and citizens die as a result, nobody should expect the machinery of government to become their hiding place.

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Foreign Affairs › Re: US Networks Including Fox News Halt Trump Pool Coverage Over White House Ban by malali: 7:12am On Sep 22

It is time to strip Nigerian governors of immunity.

If you are entrusted with public money, every naira should be traceable, and the citizens should not have to wait until your tenure ends to find out what you did with it.

Every quarter, all 36 states should be legally required to publish, in a clear and accessible public database:

How much revenue and federal allocation the state received.

How much was spent on salaries and recurrent expenditure.

How much went into capital projects, and exactly which projects.

How much was invested or saved for the state.

Every local government allocation received and how it was spent.

No more vague budget figures. No more glossy press releases. Show the money. Show the contracts. Show the projects. Show the receipts.

And local government allocations must go directly to local governments, with the same quarterly transparency requirements.

Why should Nigerians have to wait for a new administration before we discover what happened to billions?

We have 36 states and millions of citizens. Give the citizens the data and let them judge the performance of their governments in real time.

The greatest protection against corruption is not waiting for the next government to arrest the last one.

It is transparency while the money is being spent.

We need to stop pretending that everything is business as usual.

Nigerians are suffering in real time. Government accountability should happen in real time too.

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Business › Re: Non-Oil Exports Overtake Crude For First Time As Reserves Exceed $55 Billion by malali: 7:11am On Sep 22

Basic123:
The plan is to make Local Government autonomous!

The governors have been frustrating that.

Its time to lift the immunity on these governors.Most of these governors are acting like kings and Monarchs, the whole idea of public servant has been lost. Money going to states should be public knowledge. How much was disbursed, how much used to pay salaries and how much spent on capital projects. Should all be listed on a website, every quarter for the state indigenes to see.

Programming › Re: AI Amplifies Everything: Why You Need To Be Careful by malali: 3:20pm On Sep 21

AI was built to augment intelligence, not replace the absence of it.

If you don't think for yourself, AI won't make you smarter.

It'll just colonize your brain for free.

Remember: the machine didn't discover the truth. Someone built the machine, chose the data, wrote the algorithms, and decided what “good answers” look like.

So if you surrender your judgment to AI, you're not becoming smarter.

You're becoming programmable.

And if you ever want to be truly contrarian, that's exactly when you should be suspicious of the machine.

Because AI is very good at finding the consensus.

The consensus is where independent thinking goes to die.

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Crime › Re: 37 Miners’ Deaths: NSCDC Arrests Three More, 24 Now In Custody by malali: 9:20am On Sep 21

- Who ordered or permitted the detention conditions?

- How many people were held in the cell and for how long?

- Were officers aware that detainees were in medical or respiratory distress?

- Did officers fail to provide required medical attention?

- Did anyone use excessive force or deliberately harm detainees?

- Were there attempts to conceal what happened or interfere with evidence?

If the evidence establishes that an officer's intentional act, reckless conduct, or criminal negligence caused or materially contributed to deaths, then prosecution would be warranted under the applicable Nigerian criminal law.

Also, what was sprayed on them as alleged by the survivors, why were they not rescued when the first person died ? Second person died ? third person died ? Why did they have to wait for 37 people to die ?

Were these minors locked up unsupervised and left alone all night ?

Why hasn't the the person in charge of NSCDC resigned yet ? What is he waiting for ? A meritorious service award from the president ?

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Politics › Re: Atiku Offers To Educate Yusuf Aliyu, Demands Answers Over 37 Mining Deaths by malali: 8:24am On Sep 21

The deaths of these 37 Nigerians should be a wake-up call.

These were people trying to survive in an economy where poverty, unemployment and the cost of living are pushing vulnerable Nigerians into dangerous livelihoods. Their deaths in NSCDC custody demand answers. The investigation must establish exactly what happened.

But the bigger question is economic:

What is the President’s plan for an economy where petrol is around ₦1,500/litre?

How many businesses can survive these energy costs? How many families can?

Oil prices have surged amid the Iran conflict, yet ordinary Nigerians are still carrying the burden at the pump.

If government has additional oil revenue, should it consider a temporary, targeted intervention to cushion Nigerians from this extraordinary shock?

These young men needed schools. They needed legitimate economic opportunities. They needed a pathway out of poverty.

Before we criminalize poverty, we must ask why so many Nigerians have been left with so few ways to escape it.

That is the real wake-up call.🇳🇬

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Business › Re: Non-Oil Exports Overtake Crude For First Time As Reserves Exceed $55 Billion by malali: 7:57am On Sep 21*

But what exactly is the President’s plan to make these macro gains FELT by ordinary Nigerians?

₦1,500/litre petrol. Rising food and transport costs. Wages struggling to keep up.

If government is benefiting from higher crude revenues, should some of that windfall be used for a temporary, targeted fuel-price intervention?

Nobody is asking for the old subsidy regime.

But Nigerians cannot eat reserves, exports or GDP figures.

The real question is simple: when does the economic recovery reach the household?

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Foreign Affairs › Re: Ukraine Hits Moscow With ‘largest Ever’ Drone Attack by malali: 9:58pm On Sep 20

The obsession with the Ukraine war needs to stop.

37 people did not die in Ukraine.

37 people died in Niger State, Nigeria.

Nigeria is not at war with another country. Yet 37 Nigerians have lost their lives in Niger State, and the President is yet to address the nation on this tragedy.

This is not a minor incident that should disappear from the news cycle.

The President’s representative, the Acting President, should physically be in Minna—just about two hours from Abuja—to demonstrate that the Federal Government is present, paying attention and taking the loss of these lives seriously.

Thirty-seven people dying while in Federal Government custody is not a joke.

It demands answers.
It demands accountability.
And above all, it demands empathy.

When citizens die under the watch of the state, silence from the highest levels of government sends a troubling message about how much those lives matter.

The Nigerian people deserve more than press statements and official condolences after the fact.

They deserve to see their government show up.

Because 37 Nigerians are dead.
And the country should not have to beg its government to act like their lives mattered.

Nigeria must look inward too. 🇳🇬

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Politics › Re: NSCDC: FG Set Up Independent Committee To Probe Deaths, Suspend Officers by malali: 11:58am On Sep 19

Please, desist from dehumanizing the dead by calling them “illegal miners.”

Illegality is not determined by headlines, government statements, or media reports. It is determined by a competent court of law. Even in death, people do not lose their dignity or their rights.

Calling these men “illegal miners” before their alleged offence has been established in court is not only legally questionable; it is deeply insensitive. It creates the impression that they had already been tried, convicted, and sentenced, conveniently after they could no longer defend themselves.

These were Nigerian citizens. Whatever allegations may have been made against them, they remained human beings entitled to due process, dignity and humane treatment, particularly while in government custody.

Media houses should therefore be careful with the language they use. There appears to be an unsettling rush to label, convict and morally condemn these men after their deaths, almost as though establishing their guilt would somehow justify how they died in federal government custody.

It would not.

No allegation of illegal mining can justify the death of a person in state custody. The first question should be how they died, the conditions in which they were held, who was responsible for those conditions, and whether anyone’s negligence, recklessness, abuse or deliberate actions contributed to their deaths.

Let the facts speak. Let the investigation be independent. Let due process take its course. And let anyone found criminally responsible face the full weight of the law.

On another note, the list composed by Minister Bunmi-Ojo looks impressive. If those individuals are allowed to do their work without fear, political interference or bias, they have the potential to do a very good job.

My prayers are with the bereaved families.

No Nigerian citizen, guilty or innocent, rich or poor, powerful or powerless, should have to die this way.

And even in death, they deserve dignity.

Politics › Re: NSCDC: FG Set Up Independent Committee To Probe Deaths, Suspend Officers by malali: 11:57am On Sep 19

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