celebrity radar - gossips
Surviving Nigeria’s Pan-Fulani President With Sunday Igboho By Felix Oboagwina
Surviving Nigeria’s Pan-Fulani President With Sunday Igboho
By Felix Oboagwina
After a house detention spanning two years, Nigeria’s Sunday Igboho earlier this month finally secured his freedom from Benin Republic. He did not return to Nigeria. He jetted out to Germany.
Igboho, 56, a Yoruba nation separatist and whose real name is Chief Sunday Adeyemo, ran afoul of that Francophone nation’s laws for attempting to secure its passport through the backdoor. They arrested him. Worldwide pleas by Yoruba people were made for his release, with even the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, paying Igboho a visit in custody May 2022. Perhaps reluctant to court the ire of President Muhammadu Buhari, Cotonou had dilly-dallied over Igboho’s case until the Fulani-born retired-Army General’s tenure expired on May 29.
Igboho became a fugitive from Nigeria after the Department of State Services (DSS) raided his Ibadan, Oyo State home. This followed his effrontery in issuing a deadline to almighty Fulani herdsmen who for years had unleashed an orgy of kidnapping, murder and rape on rural communities in Sunday’s native Yoruba South-West. The Fulani pseudo-monarch, Seriki Fulani, served as intermediating agent for ransom payment to the kidnappers, who slew several captives and frightened farmers away from farmlands. SOS cries to security agents went unheeded. Finally, Igboho led natives on a raid of the camp of this Fulani army of occupation in Igbo-Ora, Igangan, Ibarapa and environs in Oyo State.
Reprisal came from an unexpected quarter. Clearly acting under the instructions of The Presidency and the agency’s Fulani-born CEO Yusuf Magaji Bichi, DSS operatives stormed Sunday Igboho’s home in a midnight invasion on July 1, 2021, unleashing sorrows, tears and blood in a rain of bullets. DSS slaughtered two unarmed occupants and arrested 12. The Yoruba activist himself escaped. Government froze all his bank accounts. While attempting to reach Europe through the West African country, Igboho fell into the hands of the gendarmes when he tried to arrange travel documents informally. Abuja mounted pressure for his repatriation back home. However, Buhari and his Fulani collaborators underestimated the centuries-old socio-cultural ties between Benin Republic Yoruba and Nigerian Yoruba. Those ties saved Adeyemo.
What offence did Igboho commit, except confront foreign Fulani killing Nigerians? The story began with the house-rat inviting the bush-rat to come and partake in the abundant food available at home. Perhaps because of climate change and shrinking grazing grounds in the Savannah, Fulani cowboys zeroed in on Middle-Belt and Southern Nigeria’s lush greenery. Buhari, a pan-Fulani bigot being in power, Fulani irredentism won. He threw the borders open. Unchecked, the itinerant herders arrived here in droves from all over Africa and filtered through the land. They came with their AK47s, anti-aircraft propelled rocket launchers and unleashed a new brand of terrorism. Migrant Fulani militias unleashed terror everywhere the soles of their feet marched. They still do. Videos have been seen of helicopters landing in thick forests to supply these militias with arms and provisions. This was state-backed terrorism.
Like the helplessness they displayed in Igboho’s neck of the wood in Ibarapa, security agencies made zero or half-hearted efforts to halt the Fulani militants’ evil activities nationwide. The world termed them the second deadliest terror group in the world, but pro-Fulani Buhari’s regime held back. His government sold the official false narrative that herdsmen killing unarmed rural dwellers arose from axiomatic farmers-herdsmen clashes. Such rhetoric served as white-washing PR, if not justification, for the killings, even as their body counts mounted nationwide. Buhari’s government consistently sided with the foreign aggressors.
It will not be forgotten, the ignoble role of Buhari’s spin-doctors and attack dogs: Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu and Lai Mohammed. Such names will go down in infamy as defenders of killer Fulani. Adesina once said those who failed to give up land to the Fulani should prepare to forfeit their lives –undoubtedly his pan-Fulani paymaster, Buhari’s veritable voice.
Buhari came from a Fulani father and a half Kanuri half Hausa mother. He hails from the Fulani stock in Daura, Katsina State. Also called Fulbe, the Fulani tribe originated from nomads in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, settling into Central and West Africa. Upon landing on Nigerian soil, and in order to secure population and numerical advantage, the Fulani heads formed a socio-political alliance with their Hausa hosts; and today, they are jointly tagged Hausa-Fulani. But when push comes to shove and competition for posts and resources becomes inevitable, Hausa and Fulani individuals resort to their separate ancient tents. Despite being less than 9 percent of Nigeria’s population, the Fulani wield much socio-political and socio-cultural superiority.
In relationship to other Nigerians, Buhari and fellow Fulani irredentists rate their foreign cousins higher. Nigerian Fulani’s affinity with cousins from Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroun, Guinea-Bissau and Libya gives these invaders licence to infiltrate the Nigerian space.
Going by narratives from APC chieftains privy to the affair, foreign Fulani militants had been recruited to push Buhari into power in 2015. President Goodluck Jonathan saw the handwriting on the wall and quickly threw in the towel to prevent a bloodbath. The APC kingpins claimed that politicians reneged on agreements with the imported militants, which infuriated them and made them go wild. However, something else fuelled the foreigners’ daredevilry –a pan-Fulani agenda.
In his eight years, President Buhari powered that pan-Fulani agenda. The agenda drove his lopsided pro-Fulani appointments, especially in security and the entire Armed Forces. The agenda theoretically centred on rallying Fulani in Africa to migrate to Nigeria and create a monolithic nation that would subjugate other nationalities as minorities. Buhari gave the foreign Fulani traction in Nigeria. For all he cared, Nigeria’s other 370 tribes could go to hell, once the Fulani worldwide secured Nigeria as their homeland. Resultantly, Fulani foreigners flocked into Nigeria like locusts. Egged on by the likes of the then Kaduna State Governor, they unleashed a scorched earth policy on minorities in Southern Kaduna, Zamfara State, Benue State, Plateau State, Nasarawa State, Niger State and other places, and drove millions into IDP camps. Benue recently said it lost over 20,000 lives to these marauders.
The regime supported the pan-Fulani campaign with policies. It floated the rejuvenation of North-South grazing routes that his spin-doctors said farmers had encroached upon and triggered clashes. But grazing routes were a colonial era convenience that no one wanted revived; hence, the move failed to fly.
Undeterred, the government went ahead to float a malevolent Waterways Bill, which many saw as a ploy to give Fulani herdsmen unrestricted access to rivers and streams in the country. Other Nigerians collectively ensured their legislators killed what could have amounted to signing the death warrant of other sub-groups.
Buhari went on to concoct plans for “Ruga” settlements. Thousands of hectares would be reserved in each of the 36 states solely for cattle grazers. Condemned as a scheme to “fulanise” the entire country, Ruga, to its antagonists, would ultimately turn into a veritable hideout for Fulani criminals and irredentists. That idea too died suffered nationwide rejection.
Other Nigerians suspected Ruga was window-dressing Uthman-Dan-Fodio’s legendary mission to spread the Sokoto Empire throughout the Nigerian territory and “dip the Quran in the Atlantic.” Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, during the legislative council debates on March 24, 1947 openly asserted that, “If the British departed Nigeria, the Northern people would continue their interrupted conquest to the sea.” Nigeria’s history of political instability since Independence has its roots in this Fulani quest for permanent hegemony and the determination of the rest of the country to resist the Caliphate’s domination vision.
However, Buhari himself had always shown signs of a Fulani irredentist. At the onset of the Fourth Republic, he once received a stiff rebuff from now Late Oyo State’s Governor Lam Adesina over an incident. Then usually reticent Buhari had travelled all the way from Daura to lodge a protest in Ibadan because Yoruba natives killed the cows of Fulani cattle herders. Actually, the herdsmen first unleashed an orgy of raping of women, grazing on farmlands and killing of indigenes. During Buhari’s inglorious visit, the Oyo State Police Commissioner and DSS Director vilified him for the bias displayed by someone expected to play the mediatory role of an elder statesman.
Today, Fulani incursion continues to pose an existential threat to others in the Nigerian space. And the apparent apathy and compromise of the security agencies forced the likes of Retired-General Theophilus Danjuma to voice their frustration. Danjuma, a former Fulani ally, urged other tribes to expect no protection from the “colluding” Military; and he urged them to arm themselves against the invaders.
In fact, other sections have adopted protective policies. South-West governors created “Amotekun.” As constituted authorities of the South-East dilly-dallied, the separatist group IPOB created the Eastern Security Network (ESN). Ultimately, Igbo governors rallied themselves, jointly forming “Ebubeagwu” to secure their zone. Tired of waiting for Governor Godwin Obaseki to take a similar initiative, the long-suffering Esan people in Edo State unilaterally created the Atanakpa vigilante group. Benue State formed the Community Volunteer Guards.
Additionally, states in the South and Middle-Belt have followed up with anti-grazing laws, in an uncommon determination to enforce their sovereignty in the context of a Nigerian Federation. Ironically, some dominantly Fulani states, fearing the terrorism of their immigrant cousins, have enacted similar anti-grazing laws.
Clearly, Buhari’s pan-Fulani predilection kept Nigeria divided like never before. This man divided Nigeria by choice. Like Buhari, Second Republic’s President Shehu Shagari rose from the Fulani stock; but Shagari never displayed the trappings of bigotry and led Nigeria in the path of cohesion and peace.
To continue down the path of Buhari’s pan-Fulani hallucination will only devalue the Fulani themselves and make them inevitable victims. No group owns the monopoly of violence. Victims, fighting for survival, will likely resort to self-help and in time build corporate, collaborative resistance. Who does not dread the day that Nigeria’s remaining 370 tribes will be pushed to conclude that the only good Fulani is a dead Fulani? God forbid!
Buhari and his cohorts probably forgot the transient power of power. His nightmarish eight years have ended with him, even if the bitter taste lingers in the raping, kidnapping and killings that foreign Fulani continue within Nigerian forests and highways. Like Sunday Igboho, millions of Nigerians thank God for surviving their inordinately pan-Fulani President. Goodbye to divisive bigotry and ethnic chauvinism. Goodbye to rubbish.
OBOAGWINA IS AN AUTHOR, JOURNALIST AND PUBLISHER, REACHABLE VIA: [email protected]
Why Babangida’s Hilltop Home Became Nigeria’s Political “Mecca”.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s birthday visit to Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) in Minna (where he hailed the octogenarian as a patriotic leader committed to national unity) was more than a courtesy call. It was a reminder of a peculiar constant in Nigerian politics: the steady pilgrimage of power-seekers, bridge-builders and crisis-managers to the Hilltop mansion. Jonathan’s own words captured it bluntly: IBB’s residence “is like a Mecca of sorts” because of the former military president’s enduring relevance and perceived nation-first posture.
Babangida turned 84 on 17 August 2025. That alone invites reflection on a career that has shaped Nigeria’s political architecture for four decades; admired by some for audacious statecraft, condemned by others for controversies that still shadow the republic. Born on 17 August 1941 in Minna, he ruled as military president from 1985 to 1993, presiding over transformative and turbulent chapters: the relocation of the national capital to Abuja in 1991; the creation of political institutions for a long, complex transition; economic liberalisation that cut both ways; and the fateful annulment of the 12 June 1993 election. Each of these choices helps explain why the Hilltop remains a magnet for Nigerians who need counsel, cover or calibration.
A house built on influence; why the visits never stop.
Let’s start with the obvious: access. Nigeria’s political class prizes proximity to the men and women who can open doors, soften opposition, broker peace and read the hidden currents. In that calculus, IBB’s network is unmatched. He cultivated a reputation for “political engineering,” the reason the press christened him “Maradona” (for deft dribbling through complexity) and “Evil Genius” (for the strategic cunning his critics decried). Whether one embraces or rejects those labels, they reflect a reality: Babangida is still the place where many politicians go to test ideas, seek endorsements or secure introductions. Even the mainstream press has described him as a consultant of sorts to desperate or ambitious politicians, an uncomfortable description that nevertheless underlines his gravitational pull.
Though it isn’t only political tact that draws visitors; it’s statecraft with lasting fingerprints. Moving the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja in December 1991 was not a cosmetic relocation, it re-centred the federation and signaled a symbolic neutrality in a country fractured by regional suspicion. Abuja’s founding logic (GEOGRAPHIC CENTRALITY and ETHNIC NEUTRALITY) continues to stabilise the national imagination. This is part of the reason many leaders, across party lines, still defer to IBB: he didn’t just rule; he rearranged the map of power.
Then there’s the regional dimension. Under his watch, Nigeria led the creation and deployment of ECOMOG in 1990 to staunch Liberia’s bloody civil war, a bold move that announced Abuja as a regional security anchor. The intervention was imperfect, contested and costly, but it helped define West Africa’s collective security posture and Nigeria’s leadership brand. When neighboring states now face crises, the memory of that precedent still echoes in diplomatic corridors and Babangida’s counsel retains currency among those who remember how decisions were made.
Jonathan’s praise and the unity argument.
Jonathan’s tribute (stressing Babangida’s non-sectional outlook and commitment to unity) goes to the heart of the Hilltop mystique. For a multi-ethnic federation straining under distrust, figures who can speak across divides are prized. Jonathan’s point wasn’t nostalgia; it was a live assessment of a man many still call when Nigeria’s seams fray. That’s why the parade to Minna continues: the anxious, the ambitious and the statesmanlike alike seek an elder who can convene rivals and cool temperatures.
The unresolved shadow: June 12 and the ethics of influence.
No honest appraisal can skip the hardest chapter: the annulment of the 12 June 1993 election (judged widely as free and fair) was a rupture that delegitimised the transition and scarred Nigeria’s democratic journey. Political scientist Larry Diamond has repeatedly identified June 12 as a prime example of how authoritarian reversals corrode democratic legitimacy and public trust. His larger warning (“few developments are more destructive to the legitimacy of new democracies than blatant and pervasive political corruption”) captures the moral crater that followed the annulment and the years of drift that ensued. Those wounds are part of the Babangida legacy too and they complicate the reverence that a steady stream of visitors displays.
Max Siollun, a leading historian of Nigeria’s military era, has observed (provocatively) that the military’s “greatest contribution” to democracy may have been to rule “long and badly enough” that Nigerians lost appetite for soldiers in power. It’s a stinging line, yet it helps explain the paradox of IBB’s status: the same system he personified taught Nigeria costly lessons that hardened its democratic reflexes. Today’s generation visits the Hilltop not to revive militarism but to harvest hard-won insights about managing a fragile federation.
What sustains the pilgrimage.
1) Institutional memory: Nigeria’s politics often suffers amnesia. Babangida offers a living archive of security crises navigated, regional diplomacy attempted, volatile markets tempered and power-sharing experiments designed. Whether one applauds or condemns specific choices, the muscle memory of governing a complex federation is rare and urgently sought.
2) Convening power: In a season of polarisation, the ability to sit warring factions in the same room is not small capital. Babangida’s imprimatur remains a safe invitation card few refuse it, fewer ignore it. That convening power explains why movements, parties and would-be presidents keep filing up the long driveway. Recent delegations have explicitly cast their courtesy calls in the language of unity, loyalty and patriotism ahead of pivotal elections.
3) Signals to the base: Visiting Minna telegraphs seriousness to party structures and funders. It says: “I have sought counsel where history meets experience.” In Nigeria’s coded political theatre, that signal still matters. Outlets have reported for years that many aspirants treat the Hilltop as an obligatory stop an unflattering reality, perhaps, but a revealing one.
4) The man and the myth: The mansion itself, with its opulence and aura, has become a set piece in Nigeria’s story of power, admired by some, resented by others, but always discussed. The myth feeds the pilgrimage; the pilgrimage feeds the myth.
The balance sheet at 84.
To treat Babangida solely as a sage is to forget the costs of his era; to treat him only as a villain is to ignore the architecture that still holds parts of Nigeria together. Abuja’s relocation stands as a stabilising bet that paid off. ECOMOG, for all its flaws, seeded a habit of regional responsibility. Conversely, June 12 remains a national cautionary tale about elite manipulation, civilian marginalisation and the brittleness of transitions managed from above. These are not contradictory truths; they are the double helix of Babangida’s place in Nigerian memory.
Jonathan’s homage tried to distill the better angel of IBB’s record: MENTORSHIP, BRIDGE-BUILDING and a POSTURE that (at least in his telling) RESISTS SECTIONAL ISM. “That is why today, his house is like a Mecca of sorts,” he said, praying that the GENERAL continues to “mentor the younger ones.” Whether one agrees with the full sentiment, it accurately describes the lived politics of Nigeria today: Minna remains a checkpoint on the road to relevance.
The scholar’s verdict and a citizen’s challenge.
If Diamond warns about legitimacy and Siollun warns about the perils of soldier-politics, what should Nigerians demand from the Hilltop effect? Three things.
First, use influence to open space, not close it. Counsel should tilt toward rules, institutions and credible elections not kingmaking for its own sake. The lesson of 1993 is that subverting a valid vote haunts a nation for decades.
Second, mentor for unity, but insist on accountability. Unity cannot be a euphemism for silence. A truly patriotic elder statesman sets a high bar for conduct and condemns the shortcuts that tempt new actors in old ways. Diamond’s admonition on corruption is not an abstraction; it’s a roadmap for rebuilding trust.
Third, convert nostalgia into institutional memory. If Babangida’s house is a classroom, then Nigeria should capture, publish and debate its lessons in the open: on peace operations (what worked, what failed), on capital relocation (how to plan at scale), and on transitions (how not to repeat 1993). Only then does the pilgrimage serve the republic rather than personalities.
At 84, Ibrahim Babangida remains a paradox that Nigeria cannot ignore: a man whose legacy straddles NATION-BUILDING and NATION-BRUISING, whose doors remain open to those seeking power and those seeking peace. Jonathan’s visit (and his striking “Mecca” metaphor) reveals a simple, stubborn fact: in a country still searching for steady hands, the Hilltop’s shadow is long. The task before Nigeria is to ensure that the shadow points toward a brighter constitutional daybreak, where influence is finally subordinated to institutions and where mentorship hardens into norms that no single mansion can monopolise. That is the only pilgrimage worth making.
Ajadi Celebrates Juju Legend Femolancaster’s 50th Birthday in the UK
Nigerian Juju music legend, Otunba Femi Fadipe, popularly known as FemoLancaster, is being celebrated today in London as he clocks 50 years of age.
Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, a frontline politician and businessman, led tributes to the Ilesa-born maestro, describing him as a timeless cultural icon whose artistry has enriched both Nigeria and the world.
“FemoLancaster is not just a musician, he is a legend,” Ambassador Ajadi said in his birthday message. “For decades, his classical Juju sound has remained a reminder of the beauty of Yoruba heritage. Today, as he turns 50, I celebrate a cultural ambassador whose music bridges generations and continents.”
While FemoLancaster is highly dominant in Oyo State and across the South-West, his craft has also taken him beyond Nigeria’s borders.
FemoLancaster’s illustrious career has seen him thrill audiences across Nigeria and beyond, with performances in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States of America, and other parts of the world. His dedication to Juju music has projected Yoruba traditional sounds to international stages, keeping alive the legacy of icons like King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey while infusing fresh energy for younger audiences
He further stressed the significance of honoring artistes who have remained faithful to indigenous music while taking it global. “In an era where modern sounds often overshadow tradition, FemoLancaster stands as a beacon of continuity and resilience. He has carried Yoruba Juju music into the global space with dignity, passion, and excellence,” he added.
The golden jubilee celebration in London has drawn fans, friends, and colleagues, who all describe FemoLancaster as a gifted artist whose contributions over decades have earned him a revered place in the pantheon of Nigerian music legends.
“As FemoLancaster marks this milestone,” Ajadi concluded, “I wish him many more years of good health, wisdom, and global recognition. May his music continue to echo across generations and continents.”
celebrity radar - gossips
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
Gospel Songstress Esther Igbekele Marks Birthday with Gratitude and Celebration
By Aderounmu Kazeem Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria — The gospel music scene is aglow today as the “Duchess of Gospel Music,” Esther Igbekele, marks another milestone in her life, celebrating her birthday on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
Known for her powerful voice, inspirational lyrics, and unwavering dedication to spreading the gospel through music, Esther Igbekele has become one of Nigeria’s most respected and beloved gospel artistes. Over the years, she has graced countless stages, released hit albums, and inspired audiences across the world with her uplifting songs.
Today’s celebration is expected to be a joyful blend of music, prayers, and heartfelt tributes from family, friends, fans, and fellow artistes. Sources close to the singer revealed that plans are in place for a special praise gathering in Lagos, where she will be joined by notable figures in the gospel industry, church leaders, and admirers from home and abroad.
Speaking ahead of the day, Igbekele expressed deep gratitude to God for His mercy and the opportunity to use her gift to touch lives. “Every birthday is a reminder of God’s faithfulness in my journey. I am thankful for life, for my fans, and for the privilege to keep ministering through music,” she said.
From her early beginnings in the Yoruba gospel music scene to her rise as a celebrated recording artiste with a unique fusion of contemporary and traditional sounds, Esther Igbekele’s career has been marked by consistency, excellence, and a strong message of hope.
As she adds another year today, her fans have flooded social media with messages of love, appreciation, and prayers — a testament to the profound impact she continues to make in the gospel music ministry.
For many, this birthday is not just a celebration of Esther Igbekele’s life, but also of the divine inspiration she brings to the Nigerian gospel music landscape.
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