Introduction In Nigeria today, it has become painfully evident that education no longer pays. The irony is loud and clear: a person who has laboured through the grueling academic ladder – first degree, Master’s, and PhD – often finds themselves poorer than someone who sweeps office floors in other African countries. Across Africa and beyond, janitors and cleaners are treated with greater financial dignity than Nigerian scholars. This is not to smear the reputation of the janitors, or ridicule the honest cleaners; rather, it is to highlight the shameful undervaluing of academic excellence in Nigeria. When a PhD holder lives in debt, and a cleaner in South Africa, Kenya, or Ghana lives in dignity, something is tragically wrong with our system. It reveals, in the very depth, the misplacement of priorities in the country, and the endemic corruption that continues to perforate the socio-economic fabric of the Nigerian state. Table 1 and 2 below reveal frighteningly the dispar...
The Anatomy of Power and Rebellion
Throughout
history, power has sought obedience, and where it finds resistance, it seeks
eradication. The clash between oppression and defiance is as ancient as
governance itself. In the heart of Nigeria’s political theatre, this timeless
struggle is playing out once more—a calculated attempt to erase the voice of
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate, the political space, and
ultimately, from the consciousness of the people she represents.
But
power, like the ocean, is both fluid and formidable. Those who seek to wield it
often mistake momentary control for permanence. And yet, the defiant ones—those
who refuse to kneel—are the ones history remembers. Today, the battleground is
Kogi Central, where the tides of political intrigue are clashing violently,
threatening to drown truth beneath waves of deception.
The Art of Political Assassination
Senator
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is no stranger to controversy. Her journey in politics
has been one of relentless pushback against entrenched interests. But even for
a system notorious for silencing its challengers, the events unfolding around
her recall attempt are audacious in both their intent and execution.
The
first strike came under the gilded dome of the Senate itself—a six-month
suspension, allegedly for "embarrassing" the institution. But the
true offense? Speaking out. Speaking too loudly. Speaking inconvenient truths.
The second strike followed soon after: a carefully orchestrated plot to erase
her political legitimacy altogether, cloaked in the democratic veil of a recall
process. But peel back the layers, and the machinery of manipulation is laid
bare.
The Conspirators and Their Playbook
According
to Sahara Reporters,
a backroom deal was brokered between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and
former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello—an unholy alliance forged in secrecy,
lubricated by $2 million (₦3 billion) in political currency (Sahara Reporters). Their mission? To manufacture a recall.
Their method? Deception.
What
unfolded next was a textbook case of political puppetry. Constituents were
lured in with promises of economic relief—an empowerment scheme promising aid
to the struggling masses. But the fine print was written in invisible ink.
Those signing up for help were unknowingly signing their names to a petition
aimed at ousting their representative. In a stroke of Machiavellian genius, the
people themselves were turned into weapons against the very voice that sought
to protect them.
Videos
surfacing online expose the plot in action—bewildered citizens realizing, too
late, that they had been used as pawns in a grander game (Sahara Reporters).
The Courts, The Chaos, and The Crossroads
Like all
great political dramas, this one has found its way to the courtroom. A Federal
High Court in Lokoja initially intervened, barring the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) from processing the fraudulent signatures. But
power, ever relentless, does not take ‘no’ for an answer. Soon after, the
ruling was overturned, paving the way for the recall attempt to proceed (Arise TV, Channels TV).
The
people of Kogi Central now stand at a precipice. Before them lies a choice that
transcends politics—a choice between complicity and resistance, between
submission and self-determination.
The Spectre of Silence and the Weight of
History
If
history has taught us anything, it is that the first step to tyranny is the
silencing of dissent. Power does not fear compliance; it fears the one voice
that refuses to be drowned out. And yet, those who wield power often
overestimate their dominion.
They
forget that revolutions are not born from speeches delivered in marble halls,
but from whispers in the market square. They forget that silence, when imposed,
does not signify submission—it brews storms. And sometimes, the quietest
moments in history precede the loudest reckonings.
Conclusion: A Reckoning is Coming
Senator
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan's fate may be uncertain, but what is clear is this: the
battle unfolding in Kogi Central is not just about one woman, one recall, or
one political seat. It is a referendum on truth itself, a test of whether
deception will triumph over democracy.
The
tides of power will rise and fall, as they always have. But those who seek to
rewrite history often find that history is not so easily manipulated. Because
history remembers the rebels.
And
history, it seems, is watching.
OKOM, Emmanuel Njor (PhD)
For an unfiltered look at how deception was used to manufacture the recall, watch:
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