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Lekki Tollgate: In the Name of Reconciliation, the Truth Must Come Out
By Joel Popoola
“At the Lekki toll gate, officers of the Nigerian army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenceless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem, and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.”
So concludes a judicial report into events at the Lekki tollgate during last year’s #endSARS protests.
But we only know these findings because the report was leaked to the press.
The report states that some of the army officers deployed to the gate were “not fit and proper to serve” and recommends prosecuting certain policemen for their actions.
If as a nation, we are to move on from this, the darkest of days, prosecution of a handful of individuals will not be enough.
In the interests of truth and reconciliation, we need to instigate a cultural shift towards total transparency from our leaders – not least as the report’s conclusions are at odds with the contemporaneous conclusions of leading politicians.
In the aftermath of the event, Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, suggested videos and pictures of the event were likely to have been manipulated, and that offenders may have been “hoodlums” dressed in military uniform. Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, described the incident as “a massacre without bodies”.
We know now that 11 unarmed people were killed, four more remain missing and are presumed dead. A further 48 Nigerians were injured.
It is to the credit of Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu that the inquiry was established at all.
The governor has also promised a “proper response” to the report, stating, “this process will help us start the very difficult process of proper reconciliation, restitution, bringing together of anyone affected.”
Pivotal to that process is total transparency.
Our leaders need to get into the habit of putting as much information and documentation as possible into the public domain, unfiltered and unredacted – even when it makes uncomfortable reading.
As this report has entered the public domain without being officially published is a clear sign that they have nothing to lose from such a move, and everything to gain. Secrecy is illusory in the digital age. Leaders may cling to the mindset of an age when government could stop people criticising them by shutting down newspapers and seizing printing presses, or just keep potentially damaging information secret. But this is not the age we live in now. People will forgive mistakes. They will not forgive attempts to cover up mistakes. And in the social media age, your mistakes will be revealed.
At the digital democracy campaign I lead we are trying to build the platforms politicians can use to build trust in both themselves and the wider political process through a commitment to transparency.
Our Rate Your Leader app allows leaders to communicate directly – person-to-person – with the people they serve. It also allows verified voters in their areas to communicate with them. Users can even rate their local politicians for transparency and accessibility so their friends, family and neighbours can see that their local leader is worth voting for.
Platforms like Rate Your Leader allow local leaders to be completely upfront with their electorates. This may sound like anathema to some, but the evidence suggests that this is the best way to inspire confidence and trust, both in our democratic institutions and their individual representatives. And that trust is likely to be repaid at the ballot box.
There is significant ground for our political class to make up.
As the UK’s prestigious Guardian newspaper put it, the judicial inquiry into the Lekki tollgate incident follows “a year of denials and contradictory theories offered by Nigerian government ministers”.
When citizens do not know what to believe, they will end up believing no-one. That is why the best approach is for our democratic institutions and representatives to publish the unvarnished truth and allow the people to make up their own minds.
The truth is often hard to hear and harder to stomach. But the process of publishing it makes it possible for us to as individuals and as Nigerians acknowledgement it, address it and move past it.
We cannot bring back the dead. But we owe it to the fallen to take every step we can to build a Nigeria where this does not happen again.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and digital democracy campaigner. He is the creator of the Rate Your Leader app. He can be reached via @JOPopoola
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Samuel Ajose, has declared that the endorsement of Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat as the next governor by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) will not stand.
GAC, regarded as the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, endorsed Hamzat, as its consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The decision was reached during a closed-door meeting held at Lagos House, Marina, indicating an early alignment within the ruling party ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Speaking after the session, GAC leader, Tajudeen Olusi, said members unanimously agreed on Hamzat, expressing confidence in his ability to sustain and build on the state’s developmental progress.
Olusi explained that the meeting was convened to deliberate on the party’s forthcoming primaries and assess the governorship position ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking about the GAC adoption of Hamzat as Lagos APC consensus 2027 governorship candidate on Arise News on Tuesday, Ajose said that Sanwo-Olu and others are trying to force President Tinubu into making a decision.
“I don’t think our president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is giving in to what they are doing.
“What they are just trying to do is to coerce him into taking a decision, and I don’t think that decision will stand.”
The House of Representatives has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow Five Hundred and Sixteen Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, seven ($516,333,007) US dollars in syndicated financing from Deutsche Bank AG.
The House approved it during the plenary on Tuesday in Abuja after the presentation of a report by the deputy chairman of the House Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debts Management, Abdullahi Rasheed.
The money is expected to fund the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway.
President Tinubu wrote to the lawmakers, seeking a $516.3 million loan from Deutsche Bank to support the construction of the road.
The president said the loan, to be sourced from a syndicated financing facility by Deutsche Bank, will fund sections 1, 1A, and 1B of the project, which covers about 120 kilometres.
Tinubu requested a resolution in line with Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2011, to enable the federal government to secure the financing for Sections 1, Phase 1A, and Phase 1B of the project.
The project is a flagship initiative of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is targeted at enhancing national connectivity, improving the movement of goods across key economic corridors, and drastically shrinking travel time.
The 1,000-kilometre project will link Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, connecting Illela to Badagry.
According to him, the financing arrangement will be backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC).
He said the Federal government will provide counterpart funding of over N265 billion for land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
The former Lagos governor said the loan is structured for nine years and includes a three-year grace period.
It has an interest rate pegged at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange SOFR plus 5.3 per cent per annum.
Already, the Federal Executive Council has approved the financing plan.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested a former chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni, over alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds amounting to N36.54bn and $30m.
Ayeni, a businessman, was arrested in Abuja on Thursday, and is currently being held at the commission’s facility.
The arrest followed an EFCC probe into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds said to have been obtained from Polaris Bank through multiple entities linked to him.
“Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested a former board chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc and businessman, Tunde Ayeni, in connection with alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m.
“Ayeni was arrested sequel to the investigation of the EFCC into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m obtained from Polaris Bank Plc by different entities linked to him.
“The funds were loans obtained allegedly for specific investment projects but subsequently transferred to other entities’ accounts. Investigations showed that, though the loans were obtained for purposes such as finance of marine security activities, electricity distribution contract, estate development, they were diverted to the NITEL/MTEL asset acquisition through NATCOM account,” one of the sources said.
Another source said the commission is currently probing 12 companies allegedly linked to Ayeni, which it said were used to obtain the loans from Polaris Bank.
“Twelve different companies linked to Ayeni are being investigated by the EFCC. They are entities he allegedly used to obtain loans from Polaris Bank for his shady activities. The loans are depositors’ funds fraudulently obtained and frittered into diverse wasteful purposes. Ayeni will be arraigned in due course upon conclusion of investigations,” the source said.
When contacted, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale confirmed the arrest but declined to give further details.
The Punch
