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Solomon Dalung: One Minister Nigerians Would Love to Miss
By Eric Elezuo
Much as Nigerians believe that majority of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers during his first four years in office performed way below average, the president still went ahead to retain about 18 of them while dropping 13 others.
However, among the dropped, there are a few whom Nigerians will give anything to see their backs in national limelight and discourse. One of such is the former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Solomon Dalung.
Solomon Dalung was made the Minister of Youth and Sports by President Buhari in 2015. He had previously served in the Nigerian Prisons Service, the University of Jos as a lecturer and as Chairman of Langtang South Local Government Area in Plateau State. It must be noted that none of these qualities reflected in his actions and administrative policies while he remained minister.
His tenure was characterised by untold controversies ranging from misrepresentations, shallow knowledge of facts, and to top it all, was blighted at the end by allegations levelled by the International Association of Athletics Federations that the ministry under his watch failed to refund $130,000 mistakenly paid to Nigeria. He is still to make the refund till date.
Dalung was one minister, who when he speaks, Nigerians wondered if he was privileged to acquire formal education at all.
The former minister was quoted on many occasions for statements that are far below his calling. Recall that when the Super Falcons protested over bonus, Dalung said they were never expected to win the trophy.
“Don’t forget that nobody even knew the team would emerge victorious, if we were confident they will emerge victorious, all the Federation would have done is to plan for process of participation and entitlement,” he was quoted.
Again, he made Nigerians believe that the World Cup, as highly rated as it is, was a sheer waste of time participating.
“That competition stinks of corruption; Nigeria is too poor to waste money on it. The cup that we can win is the African Cup of Nations. There is nothing again that will take us to another man’s balcony in the name of the World Cup. We already have the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. For these, we can attend such meets. But I am opposed to the World Cup. We don’t agree to it. Conspiracy in the World Cup is too much.”
When the Nigerian Paralympics gave a superlative performance during an outing, Dalung hinted that, “the disabled athletes have shown that all you need is a winning mentality and not too much preparation, they trained under the same condition with their able bodied counterparts but they are winning medals now.”
While fielding questions from newsmen about the Dalung got many people furious when he referred to Nigeria as the ‘United States of Nigeria.’
Nigerians would not forget in a hurry when our dear former Sports Minister said, “Our U-23 team is suffering in the United States of Nigeria.” That was when the Dream Team couldn’t fly out to Rio for the Olympic Games. In the same instance, he denied knowledge of the Dream Team’s wellbeing in USA.
In his words, “The issue of our U23 National team suffering in the United States of America is news to me. In fact I am hearing it from you (the media) for the first time.”
The man didn’t stop there, he fueled the fire of his ignorance by adding “They (Nigeria U23) didn’t tell us what they were there for and who took them there. It doesn’t mean that if somebody goes to the market and has problem then you will come and ask the ministry. The question is who took them there? And what are they there for?
“Because they are U23 national team, they went to the US and they are having problems, does that become our business? When they were traveling to the US, from your information, were you told that we were informed? Before you (the media) asked us to account for something you should know whether we are aware of it.”
Unconcerned about the threat to throw the Olympic Eagles out of their hostel in Atlanta, he said: “If they are throwing them out of the hotel then they should meet who took them there.
“They were supposed to be given a letter approving they are traveling from the minister’s office. Then if they ask me, I will tell you that I approved it and this is the reason.”
Again, Solomon Dalung created more drama, denying knowledge of the appointment of super eagles coach, Gernot Rohr.
“I am not aware we have a new coach,” he announced.
It is unimaginable how a football federation would take such step without the consent of the sport minister.
Once, he posted pictures from a football match he attended at an IDP camp on his Facebook post, and referred to the state he went to as ‘Gongola State’. Which was created in 1976 and ceased to exist in August 1991 when Taraba and Adamawa States were created from it.
“I attended a football match between Internally Displaced Persons IDPs of Gongola State and footballers from the Diplomatic Community yesterday to mark the United Nations International Day of Sports for Peace and Development….”
Well, needless to mention the ‘spended’ episode when he said ‘the money spended was well well spended’.
With those and many more, it is not likely that Nigerians will miss the khaki and red beret wearing former Minister of Sports.
US President Donald Trump has signed a federal spending bill, officially ending the longest government shutdown in American history.
The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives in a 222–209 vote, followed narrow approval in the Senate just two days earlier. The bill restores funding to federal agencies after 43 days of closure, bringing relief to millions of government employees and citizens affected by halted services.
Speaking after signing the measure on Wednesday night, Trump described the deal as a political victory, asserting that Democrats unnecessarily prolonged the shutdown.
“They didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad,” he said.
The temporary funding bill maintains government operations only through 30 January, creating a new deadline for lawmakers to negotiate a long-term budget solution.
As part of the agreement, Senate leaders committed to an early December vote on Obamacare subsidies, a key priority for Democrats during the shutdown standoff.
In addition to reopening federal offices, the bill provides full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, military construction projects, and several legislative branch offices.
It also ensures retroactive pay for federal workers affected by the shutdown and allocates funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans access food.
The shutdown, which began in October, forced the suspension of many government services, leaving an estimated 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay. It also disrupted food assistance programmes and caused widespread delays in domestic air travel.
With federal operations now resumed, attention in Washington has turned to whether Congress and the White House can reach a longer-term funding agreement before the new deadline at the end of January.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), on Thursday, announced discontinuation of the planned 15 per cent duty on imported petroleum products.
NMDPRA’s Director, Public Affairs Department, George Ene-Ita, conveyed the development in a statement while warning the public to shun panic buying.
President Bola Tinubu, on October 29, approved an import tariff on petrol and diesel, a policy expected to raise the landing cost of imported fuel.
The President’s approval was conveyed in a letter signed by his Private Secretary, Damilotun Aderemi, following a proposal submitted by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.
The proposal sought the application of a 15 per cent duty on the cost, insurance, and freight value of imported petrol and diesel to align import costs with domestic market realities.
Implementation was slated to take effect on November 21, 2025.
The policy aimed to protect and promote local refineries like the Dangote Refinery and modular plants by making imported fuel more expensive.
While intended to boost local production, it is also expected to increase fuel costs, which could lead to higher inflation and transportation prices for consumers.
Experts have argued that the move could translate into higher pump prices for consumers, with some estimating an increase of up to N150 per litre or more.
In an update, however, NMDPRA said the government was no longer considering going ahead with implementing the petrol import duty.
“It should also be noted that the implementation of the 15% ad-valorem import duty on imported Premium Motor Spirit and Diesel is no longer in View,” the statement read in part.
Meanwhile, the NMDPRA also assured all that there is an adequate supply of petroleum products in the country, within the acceptable national sufficiency threshold, during this peak demand period.
“There is a robust domestic supply of petroleum products (AGO, PMS, LPG, etc) sourced from both local refineries and importation to ensure timely replenishment of stocks at storage depots and retail stations during this period.
“The Authority wishes to use this opportunity to advise against any hoarding, panic buying or non-market reflective escalation of prices of petroleum products.
“The Authority will continue to closely monitor the supply situation and take appropriate regulatory measures to prevent disruption of supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country, especially during this peak demand period.
“While appreciating the continued efforts of all stakeholders in the midstream and downstream value chain in ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted supply and distribution, the public is hereby assured of NMDPRA’s commitment to guarantee energy security,” the statement added.
The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.
The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, representing an increase of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.
This expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion. Of this, N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
In a related development, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify its oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented in the 2025 fiscal year and used strictly for their intended purposes.
President Tinubu had on November 4th requested the approval of the National Assembly for a fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to help finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.
The President’s request was conveyed in a letter. According to the letter, the proposed borrowing is intended to bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.
