celebrity radar - gossips
The truth lie, Mohammed cannot kill (Part 1) By Tunde Odesola
The truth lie, Mohammed cannot kill (Part 1) By Tunde Odesola
In light or in darkness, a cockroach is a cockroach; smelly and repulsive. What to do to rid the cockroach of its nuisance? Whack it to death!
The lethargic regime of the retired General Muhammadu Buhari heeded this homily on October 20, 2020, when it crushed to death, like cockroaches, innocent Nigerian youths at the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos Island.
Since the bloodbath at Lekki over a year ago, the unproductive Buhari regime has been wheeling falsehoods in and out of cosmetic surgery wards, trying all manner of facelifts to beautify deceit. But truth remained missing in the prescribed post-surgery dosage, making Aso Rock’s open wound conscience discharge smelly pus.
But before I attack the cockroaches that crawled out of the latest response from the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, last week, I’ll ask a question: where’s the camcorder discovered by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, at the scene of the murder of innocent Nigerian youths?
My gut feeling is to treat the Fashola camcorder discovery with the doubt that Nigerians attach to government and its officials, and liken the discovery to the purported discovery of River Niger by Scottish explorer, Mungo Park, in 1795, centuries after indigenes had been living on the banks of the river.
The out-of-the-blue camcorder discovery and the ginger way the left-handed minister wrapped the camcorder with a piece of dark cloth, like a detective from Alagbon, suggests there was an untold event at the toll gate before the minister got there that fateful day – just like there were indigenes living around River Niger long before Mungo got there.
Conversely, the authenticity of Fashola’s action and the possibility of extracting evidence from the camcorder were lost in the black hole of government’s characteristic insensitivity to issues that concern the masses.
It’s only an unfeeling and inconsiderate government that would keep quiet on the content of a camera openly discovered by an ex-Chief of Staff, two-term governor, SAN, minister, and member of the federal cabinet.
In a country, where leaders lead with conscience, and consider the citizenry worthier than cows, there won’t be a criminal silence on the content of the camcorder. Mind you, two weeks ago, Fashola had said he openly handed over the camcorder to Lagos State government officials at the toll gate, insisting that he doesn’t know what has become of the camera.
According to online reports, Fashola also claimed the camcorder was planted by subversive elements. This assertion is the reason why the content of the camcorder should be made public if the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led government of Lagos State wishes to wash its hands clean. Questions beggar answers. Why did the Lagos State government not submit the camcorder to the panel, and why did the panel not mention the camcorder in its report nor call on Fashola to come and testify?
It should be noted that the composition of the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led eight-member Lagos State Panel of Inquiry constituted to look at the causes of the Lekki toll gate crises was a child of necessity. If not for the fire consuming Lagos at the time, Sanwo-Olu wouldn’t people the panel with independent-minded and courageous citizens, who never gave two hoots about how Abuja or Alausa feels about the truth they told in the report. I daresay the composition of the panel was to douse the escalating tension eating up Lagos at the time.
Upon the leakage of the panel’s report, Nigeria’s media space went berserk, but the information minister figuratively went underwater like a mighty shark for some days, only for him to suddenly shoot into the air from the deep, twirling to the horror of many, insisting that nobody died at the toll gate.
Alhaji Lai’s latest lie issued forth from the same mouth which claimed in 2018 that it cost government N3.5m monthly to feed detained Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, even as the same mouth claimed in 2016 that patient Buhari wasn’t sick in London, only for the Daura general to return to the country to say he had never been that sick in his entire life.
The same mouth had also infamously said Boko Haram had been technically defeated only for the terrorist organisation to claim territories in the North-East, and kill soldiers and civilians at will. I’ll restrain from turning on the minister’s tap of misrepresentations.
Reacting to the leaked report, Mohammed quoted a nameless lawyer and a faceless journalist, whom he claimed described the leaked report as disgraceful. If Alhaji Lai was proud of what he was saying, he should have come up with the identities of the unknown persons he copiously quoted in his press statement.
In the aftermath of the massacre, CNN came up with a damning analysis of the CCTV footage from the Lekki toll gate, showing soldiers shooting at the scene and expended live bullet casings, which were traced to the Nigerian military.
After the CNN report, the government went back on its earlier denial that soldiers never had live bullets at the scene, insisting, however, that the live bullets were not shot.
Both the panel and the CNN reports queried the reason behind the ‘panning out of CCTV cameras’ at the scene shortly before the soldiers opened fire on the harmless protesters.
If Mohammed was on the side of the truth and the masses, he should have raised questions as to why the brightly lit toll gate was thrown into darkness shortly before the killer soldiers opened fire on Nigerians whom he swore to serve and protect.
In his sophistry, Mohammed raised a jejune question on why the relatives of the deceased have refused to come out and claim the corpses of the dead.
In a country where the soldiers that killed three policemen and two civilians, who arrested kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala aka Wadume, in Taraba State, got a pat on the back, and are today walking free, Mohammed’s poser to the relatives of the dead is akin to telling them to face a moving train.
It’s on record that the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, withdrew the murder charge against the soldiers since June 2020.
With the wave of killings and tension across the country, Mohammed should know that Nigerians have been dehumanised and disenchanted to the extent that they don’t expect anything good from the Buhari regime.
Just a few days ago, a witness, Kamsi Ochuko, who testified at the panel against the Nigerian Army, was allegedly attacked by hoodlums suspected to be sponsored.
One of the victims who survived gunshot wounds, Agbeze Ifeanyi Matthew, a 35-year-old man from Ondo State, testified before the investigative panel and showed his bullet wounds.
He also told UK-based daily, The Guardian, that it was shameful the Federal Government had been denying the shooting of protesters at the toll gate.
He said, “The tollgate lights had never gone off before, but when they turned them all off and we saw people (in uniform) removing the cameras, we became scared.
“The bullet had gone through my back. In the ambulance they were saying I had lost so much blood. The nurse was praying, trying to encourage me to be courageous, saying that I should not lose hope. This was around 1am.
“I was the first person from the tollgate admitted to the ward. Later that morning, there was no more space (in the ward).”
To be continued next week.
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Facebook: @tunde odesola
Twitter: @tunde_odesola
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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