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Joe Biden Trusts a Nigerian to Run His Economy – Why Don’t Nigerians?
By Joel Popoola
United States President-elect Joe Biden’s appointment of Nigerian-born Adewale Adeyemo as his Deputy Treasury Secretary should be a huge matter of pride for us ‘Naija’.
But to me it demonstrates yet again how and where we are failing as a nation.
That a Nigerian in his thirties will be soon have such a critical role in the American economy – and the economy of the entire World as a result- is a testament to the intelligence and industry of our young people.
But it is also a sign not just that too many of our best and brightest young Nigerians continue believe that they will have better opportunities overseas, but that they are probably right to do so.
On some level we should be thrilled at the international success of the Nigerian Diaspora – with the recent promotion of Lagos-born Pearlena Igbokwe at NBCUniversal and Ngozi Ikonjo-Iweala’s role at the World Bank, Nigerians will soon be in charge of both the economy and the entertainment industry in the United States! – but we should also be devastated that it is other nations that our benefiting from our resilience, ambition and talent.
It is also proof that foreign governments trust Nigerian politicians more than we do! Joe Biden may trust a Nigerian to run his economy, but most Nigerians wouldn’t!
As research from the influential Pew Research Centre has shown, more than seven-in-ten Nigerians (72%) believe the statement “most politicians are corrupt” describes our country well.
What is worse, six-in-ten say it describes Nigeria “very well.”
Almost six-in-ten Nigerians say the statement “elected officials care what ordinary people think” is not accurate. 57% believe that things will not change for the people of Nigeria “no matter who wins an election”.
And who can blame them?
Just this week we saw the arrest of Abdulrasheed Maina, the fugitive former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team.
The influential intergovernmental economic organisation the OECD recently scored Nigeria 28/100 for corruption placing us in 136th position out of 176 countries surveyed.
When the former head of the President’s own taskforce on cleaning up pensions stands charged with 12 counts of money laundering you have to ask yourself if the OECD has been too charitable in its assessment.
In fact, when it comes to research into Nigerian’s opnion of politicians, the most positive figure I can find is from a 2017 survey which concluded 54% of Nigerians think ordinary people “can make a difference” politically.
What that survey – and those surveyed for that matter – forget however is that politicians are ordinary people!
The problem is that in Nigeria we have fallen into the habit of viewing politicians as some discrete class, completely removed from the rest of us – almost as if they were a different species!
At the digital democracy campaign I lead, we want to change that. We have created a free app called Rate Your Leader which is designed to stop local politicians from seeming remote and out-of-touch and to make them feel like real people.
The app does this by putting electors and elected into direct person to person contact. Instead of party political broadcasts, decision-makers and the people who put them in power can have direct, one-one-one conversations – building relationships, building trust and working together to make our communities better.
Nigerians need to feel that anyone can make it – whether in entertainment, business or politics. To feel it, they need to see it – and to see it they need to be in better contact with people who have made it.
And thanks to apps like Rate Your Leader – which also makes abusive communications impossible – this can be done using technology that almost all of us are carrying in our pockets at all times.
Our hope is that along with improved democratic accountability and transparency we can inspire people to consider political careers themselves, and to stay in Nigeria to do it.
No-one begrudges Nigerians having success overseas – far from it. It is also a huge symbol of national pride that no less than eight players with Nigerian heritage were picked by the top American basketball teams in last month’s draft and nobody is going to claim that the Nigerian basketball leagues are a better place to show off their talents to global audience then the NBA!
But if we are to advance as a nation, we need to prove to our most talented young people that Nigeria is somewhere they can thrive.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian technology entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and creator of the Rate Your Leader app.
Three Nigerian secondary schools are in the ring for the grand prize of N5m in the ongoing Glo Innov8 National STEM competition for girls in Senior Secondary Schools across the country.
The three top finalists were selected for their originality and innovation in the different entries for the competition. A total of 20 secondary schools were picked from over 200 schools which registered for the competition. After a series of considerations, 10 of them made it to the semifinal from which three; Ephraim High School, Isolo Campus, Lagos; Regina Pacis International School, Onitsha, Anambra State; and Peakfield Academy, Jos, Plateau State eventually coasted home to the finals.
Schools from Plateau, Kano, Lagos, Rivers, Edo, Borno, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Oyo, Anambra, FCT, Delta, Kaduna and Adamawa states had signified intentions to participate following a call for entries by Glo Foundation, Globacom’s corporate social responsibility arm as part of its celebration of the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child.
Glo Innov8, a STEM-driven challenge, has scheduled prizes worth N5 million to the three schools in the finals. The competition “is geared at inspiring young girls to Compete, Innovate and Win, while also strengthening their confidence and expanding their knowledge in STEM subjects”, Glo Foundation explained.
The eventual overall winning school will go home with a cash prize of N2,000,000 while the 2 students representing the school will each get a laptop. The Teacher/Mentor/STEM Coordinator also gets N200,000.
The schools that come second and third places and their Teachers/Mentors/STEM Coordinators will also receive mouth-watering consolation prizes.
The three female judges of the virtual phase of selection of the top 20 schools said they were excited by the quality of presentations by the competing schools. One of them, Tosin Olabode said: “I was particularly impressed by the prototype presentations from some schools. They demonstrated that they had done their homework”.
In the same vein, Amina Gabriel disclosed that she was thrilled by the variety of ideas that the schools came up with. “The schools presented innovative solutions tackling issues in agriculture, security, waste management, and firefighting. The top 10 schools showcased outstanding prototypes, from apps to robots, making the judging process truly competitive. I’m grateful to Glo Foundation for the opportunity to serve and support young girls in STEM”, she said.
According to Sharon Ibejih, the third judge, “This competition has showcased a highly competitive next generation of women leaders in STEM. This was an excellent exercise and a means to encourage more students in STEM to develop problem-solving and innovative thinking skills”.
The overall winning school will emerge at an event set to hold later this year at the Mike Adenuga Centre (Alliance Française), Ikoyi, Lagos.
The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, has filed a motion to stop the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in his trial for alleged terrorism.
Justice James Omotosho, on November 7, fixed November 20 for judgment on the case.
The judge fixed the date after Kanu’s defence was foreclosed following his insistence that he would not enter his defence under a repealed law.
However, in the motion on notice marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, he personally filed, the IPoB leader sought seven reliefs.
In the application dated November 10 and filed same date, Kanu sought an order arresting the delivery of judgment in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015.
The document was made public on Tuesday.
In it, he alleged that the proceedings were conducted under a repealed and non-existent statute and in disobedience to the Supreme Court’s directive contrary to Section 287(1) CFRN 1999.”
He sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 287(1) CFRN, the trial court was constitutionally bound to give effect to the Supreme Court’s finding that count 15 (now count 7) “does not exist in law,” and its failure rendered all subsequent proceedings null and void.
He also sought a declaration that the court’s failure to take judicial notice of the repeal of the 2013 Terrorism Act, contrary to Section 122 Evidence Act 2011, vitiates all steps taken thereunder.
The IPOB leader equally sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 76(1)(d)(iii) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to try him in the absence of proof that the alleged conduct constituted an offence under Kenyan law or of any Kenyan judicial validation or extradition order.
Besides, Kanu sought “a declaration that the plea purportedly taken on March 29, under a repealed and non-existent statute and in violation of Section 220 ACJA 2015 is void and incapable of conferring jurisdiction.
President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a strong delegation to London to address the situation of Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, who has been imprisoned in the UK since March 2023.
The delegation includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
The team arrived in London on Monday and held discussions with officials from the UK’s Ministry of Justice.
Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, said on Tuesday that the presidential delegation was in London to engage with UK authorities to consider the possibility of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his prison sentence in Nigeria.
The London Metropolitan Police detained the Ekweremadus in June 2022 after a man was deceitfully presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital in London as a relative of their daughter Sonia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to convince medical professionals to perform an £80,000 transplant.
The 21-year-old man, who had allegedly been promised employment in the UK, reported the incident to the police in May of that year, saying that he had been brought to the country for an organ transplant.
In March 2023, the former presiding officer of Nigeria’s Senate was convicted of organ trafficking by a UK court. Beatrice, his wife, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor connected to the case, were also found guilty.
This verdict marked the first of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu received a nine-year and eight-month prison sentence, while his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta was given a ten-year prison sentence.
In his ruling, Judge Jeremy Johnson determined that Beatrice should serve half of her sentence in custody and be supervised for the remainder. However, she was released from prison in January and has since returned to Nigeria.
