Metro
There Is No Hiding Place for Crooked Officials in this Digital Age
By Joel Popoola
Uganda’s Zoom scandal has proved that there is no hiding place for crooked and corrupt officials in this digital age.
As a digital democracy campaigner I believe African governments must use digital technology to be more open about their activities. Transparency through technology is the most effective way of tackling corruption and building public confidence in our political institutions.
But having government officials film themselves plotting to pocket coronavirus relief funds and then putting the recordings on the internet is taking things too far, even for me.
But that’s what Ugandan government officials appear to have done this week.
Uganda this week recalled its ambassador to Denmark after she and her deputy appeared to be filmed plotting to carve up government cash meant to help with the COVID-19 crisis.
Catching crooks with secret cameras is nothing new – but these recordings were made by the alleged conspirators themselves, who due to COVID-19 social distancing and travel restrictions had to meet using Zoom video conferencing.
Ambassador Nimisha Madhvani and her staff are allegedly heard plotting to share out money meant to help Ugandan citizens stranded overseas, including bribing any auditors uncovering “jumbled funds” at the mission.
“Give yourselves $4000” (1.5m Naira) one official seems to instruct staff.
Clips from the meeting are now being shared widely on social media. The head of Uganda’s foreign ministry has pledged a full investigation and stated “the ministry wishes to express grave concern about the allegations … and takes this matter seriously”.
There is an important lesson for governments here. There is no hiding place for crooked officials in the digital age – so embrace the benefits of being transparent.
Stories like this will be familiar to many Nigerians. Just this week more than one newspaper reported that the case files of 15 high profile individuals facing graft and other criminal charges have “disappeared”. In the same vein, a former petroleum minister is under investigation of corruption offences in the UK. Though over the years, much of her trial has been media based.
In fact, Nigeria, has remained a beehive of recurrent issues of corruption and corrupt practices, and involving high profile officers. While most people were celebrating the clampdown of most supposedly corrupt officers such as former Abia state governor, Orji Uzo Kalu, who was however, released from jail after seven months, on technical grounds, the hunter suddenly became the hunted. In a twist of fate, the boss of the anti-graft outfit, Ibrahim Magu, was cut in his own web. Massive allegations bordering on fraud, theft and money laundering were leveled against. His position was instantly taken away, and he is still a presidential panel of enquiry.
In like manner, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Victor Akpabio, and his co-travellers in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), have remained in the eye of the storm over stealing of the commission’s funds running into billions of naira. That he is still in government says a lot the fight against corruption mantra.
I often think back to a report from the Global Integrity Index which reported that when it comes to aid, many African governments are “adept at engineering laws and institutions to meet foreign donor requirements despite their failure to deliver for ordinary citizens”.
This is what the international community thinks of us. But our own communities have even worse opinions of our democratic institutions. One study reported 72% of Nigerians believe the statement “most politicians are corrupt” describes our country well – and six-in-ten said it described Nigeria “very well.”
Another survey reported that almost half of Nigerians believe corruption cannot be defeated.
This needs to change. Which is why the digital democracy campaign I lead are creating technology to increase political transparency and accountability and making it freely available to all Nigerians.
Our free Rate Your Leader app lets confirmed voters ask direct questions to their local elected leaders and allows them to rate the answers they receive for their neighbours to see.
The app also helps politicians engage directly with the people who elected them building relationships of trust with the electorate.
But it should not be left to enlightened politicians and organisations such as Rate Your Leader to take such actions. We need a co-ordinated national response
People often talk of not wanting to air their dirty laundry in public, but my solution to that is not to dirty your laundry in the first place!
If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear – and everything to gain. And even if governments make mistakes – and everyone makes mistakes! – not only is sunlight is always the best disinfectant, voters respect leader who take responsibility when things do not go to plan.
The good news is Nigeria – whilst still estimated to have lost $400 billion to corruption since independence – has been at the forefront of digitalizing its coronavirus relief payments. Not only do digital payments get the money to the people who need it faster, the payments also leave a secure electronic paper trail proving that the money ended up in the right hands.
There has also been increasing publication of government borrowing, spending and procurement decisions on the Treasury website.
It is important that Nigeria continues with this direction of travel.
This week President Buhari listed building “a system to fight corruption (and) improve governance” as one of his administration’s priorities for the next three years.
The digital publication of government records, made easily accessible and comprehensible to all Nigerians using smartphones, will be key to delivering on that priority.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and digital democracy campaigner and is creator of the Rate Your Leader app. You can reach Joel on Twitter @JOPopoola
Metro
HURIWA Demands Probe As Nine Soldiers Accused of Links to Boko Haram Allegedly Escape from Custody
A major security breach has hit the Nigerian military after nine soldiers reportedly escaped from a guardroom at Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri — headquarters of the Army’s 7 Division.
Military sources said the incident occurred around 2:15am on Monday.
Most of the escapees were said to have been detained for alleged links with Boko Haram and involvement in arms trafficking in the North-East.
“There was a jailbreak on Monday around 0215 hours at Maimalari Cantonment. Nine personnel detained mostly for dealing in arms running with terrorists escaped,” a source, according to some media reports, confirmed.
One of the fugitives has since been recaptured, while a manhunt is underway for the remaining eight.
The military has reportedly launched an internal probe to uncover how the soldiers succeeded in breaking free from the high-security facility.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group – Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) of Nigeria has condemned the criminal activity of letting out such high value suspects at a time that the nation is gripped by the threats of the United States of America government’s threats to unleash military airstrikes targeting Islamic Terrorists like Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP.
HURIWA believes that if the report is factually accurate, then there is more to it than meets the eyes. It means that there is a high network of conspiratorial plots from the topmost echelons of the command structures and these collaborators and saboteurs of the war on terror must be identified, arrested, prosecuted for treason and jailed for life.
HURIWA tasked the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede and the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu to take the matter as a high priority case and to go after the escapees just as the commander charged with securing their detention should be immediately suspended and all those who participated in aiding and abetting their disappearances must be arrested and prosecuted for sabotaging the counter terrorism war in Nigeria.
“If this is true, it means that the claims made by the Borno state governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, of the existence of saboteurs of the war on terror within the Nigeria Army is much deeper than we are all contemplating.”
The Rights group stated that although the Nigerian Army is yet to react to the development at the time the media filed this report, the escapees were alleged to be involved in arms trafficking to terrorist groups operating in Nigeria’s North-East just as it was gathered that reports of the jailbreak have led to serious concerns within Nigeria’s security sector.
HURIWA expressed disappointment that saboteurs embedded within the nation’s military circles orchestrated the ugly development just few days after President Bola Tinubu appointed new service chiefs as a way to pass a message that they are invincible but the civil rights advocacy group stated that allowing these important and strategic suspects who sabotaged the war on terror to escape without being caught on time, it therefore means that there is the urgency of the moment to review the entire spectrum of military operations against Boko Haram terrorists given that their informants and suppliers of weapons have successfully penetrated the military institution, which is a very big shame.
“When we call for heads to roll, we truly mean that many bad eggs must be immediately weeded out of the Army given that they are actually undermining the National security of the corporate entity of Nigeria. It is time for a transparent overhauling of the security operations against terrorists in the country.”
A gas-laden tanker overturned on a Lagos road on Monday after the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle.
The General Manager (GM), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, who made this known in a statement on Monday in Lagos, said that timely response of traffic officials, however, averted an explosion at the scene.
He said the incident occurred along the main carriageway at Chisco, before the traffic light inward Victoria Island area.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the incident occurred when the driver of the truck, fully loaded with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinders, lost control of the vehicle, causing it to overturn on the busy expressway.
“Given the highly volatile nature of the product, the situation posed an immediate and severe threat to human life and property, necessitating urgent technical intervention,” he said.
The GM said that LASTMA personnel swiftly cordoned off the affected area upon arriving at the scene, securing both the overturned vehicle and the CNG tanks.
According to him, this was done to prevent any leakage or ignition that could have triggered an explosive conflagration.
Bakare-Oki said that the LASTMA Rescue and Emergency Unit immediately activated a multi-agency emergency protocol, summoning key responders.
“The responders are the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
“Through this rapid inter-agency collaboration, the imminent threat was expertly contained, and normalcy was swiftly restored,” he said.
Bakare-Oki, who was physically present at the scene, lauded the prompt and disciplined conduct of his officers and partner agencies.
He disclosed that the upturned gas tanker was professionally recovered, using state-of-the-art heavy-duty cranes and recovery equipment mobilised to the site.
“Their immediate action in securing the environment prevented what could have been an unspeakable tragedy.
“We ensured that the recovery process was conducted under the highest safety protocols to eliminate any residual risk,” he said.
He further revealed that additional LASTMA personnel were deployed to the area to manage the resultant traffic congestion.
He added that the team guaranteed the safety of commuters navigating through the Victoria Island corridor.
“While the main carriageway was closed temporarily from Chisco inward Victoria Island, motorists were immediately diverted through the new coastal road and reconnected via Bar Beach.
“This ensured the continuity of vehicular movement till the recovery operation was safely concluded and the road reopened to normal traffic,” he said.
The GM emphasised that the incident underscored the critical importance of adherence to road safety regulations, especially among truck drivers and operators of articulated vehicles transporting flammable and hazardous materials.
He admonished such operators to strictly observe prescribed speed limits, maintain their vehicles in sound mechanical condition, and exercise heightened vigilance, particularly under wet weather conditions.
Leading communications network, Globacom, has registered another milestone with its ongoing investment in its people as the SheGlows Summit 2025 convened women from every division at the Alliance Française, Mike Adenuga Centre, Lagos.
This year’s theme, “Wellness for Growth,” underscored a simple truth: wellbeing is not separate from performance-it powers it.
From Mrs Olubunmi Aboderin Talabi’s reflections on rest, to Bunmi George’s insights on consistency, and Ifeoma Williams’s masterclass on confidence, every session linked personal wellness to leadership readiness.
The summit’s success mirrored Globacom’s broader commitment to a management culture that continually fosters spaces where women can learn, lead, and lift others.
While the spotlight shone on the female workforce, the quiet endorsement from senior leadership made clear that this vision starts at the top and ripples throughout the organisation.
Participants left with renewed clarity and community spirit, a testament that when companies nurture wellness, they unlock growth that lasts.
They lauded the experience as inspiring and transformative. Ifeyinwa Okoli, Team Lead, Customer Care, said, “The event was beyond my expectations; each speaker delivered her message beautifully, and I’ve taken so much home.”
Esther Ohiomoba from Enterprise Business added, “It touched my core. My biggest takeaway is to let my brilliance serve, not intimidate. I’d love to do this again and again.”
