Flowerbud News

Year: 2026

  • India reiterates commitment to promoting democracy, women’s empowerment

    India reiterates commitment to promoting democracy, women’s empowerment

     

    Amb. Abhishek Singh standing alongside members of the Indian community in Nigeria

     

    By Sarafina Christopher

    Abuja, (NAN)/FLOWERBUDNEWS ); The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Abhishek Singh, on Monday, reiterated his country’s commitment to democracy, national unity, and women’s empowerment.

    Singh reiterated this during the unfurling of the Indian national flag to mark the country’s 77th Republic Day, in Abuja.

    While delivering the Republic Day address of the President of India, Mrs Droupadi Murmu, the high commissioner reflected on the Southeast Asian country’s democratic journey since the adoption of its Constitution on January 26, 1950.

    He highlighted the ideals of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity enshrined in the Indian Constitution, describing them as the foundation of the world’s largest democracy.

    The envoy also emphasised the role of women in nation-building, highlighting their increasing contributions across governance, the economy, science, sports, entrepreneurship, and the armed forces.

    The President’s address further acknowledged the contributions of farmers, workers, youth, security personnel, and overseas Indians in strengthening India’s democratic institutions and national development.

    Following the flag unfurling ceremony, Singh, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that celebrating India’s Republic Day in Nigeria reflected the strong bond between both countries.

    “Celebrating our Republic Day in a friendly country like Nigeria gives me immense joy.

    “It reflects the shared democratic values between the world’s largest democracy and Africa’s largest democracy,” he said.

    The high commissioner expressed appreciation to the government and people of Nigeria for their hospitality to the Indian community.

    Singh said women’s empowerment remained a central pillar of India’s development agenda, adding that the country would continue to promote inclusive growth and women-led development.

    He reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening its strategic partnership with Nigeria, expressing confidence in the continued expansion of bilateral cooperation across key sectors.

    The envoy noted that India and Nigeria, as the world’s and Africa’s largest democracies respectively, shared common values and aspirations and would continue to deepen collaboration in the years ahead.

    An entrepreneur from the Indian community in Nigeria, Mr Sriram Venkateswaram, described the celebration of India’s Republic Day in Nigeria as symbolic.

    “From the world’s largest democracy to Africa’s largest democracy, it is a great feeling to celebrate Republic Day in Nigeria,” he said.

    “Nigeria has welcomed us warmly and treated us like brothers and sisters.”

    Also speaking, Mrs Ritu Pathak, President of the Indian Women Empowerment Association (IWEA) in Nigeria, described the host country as a second home for many of their families.

    “We have lived here for decades. Our children grew up here. Nigeria is home for us,” she said.

    On women’s empowerment, she said that Indian women living in Nigeria work closely with their Nigerian counterparts.

    “Nigerian women are our co-sisters. We work together, empower one another, and grow together,” Pathak said.

    The ceremony was attended by members of the Indian community n Nigeria. (NAN)/FLOWERBUDNEWS (www.nannews.ng)

    (Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)

    About Flowerbudnews
    Established by Hon.  Biola Lawal, a former Acting Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), FLOWERBUDNEWS is a consortium of active veteran journalists, experienced Multimedia broadcast experts and image makers.

    We are drawn from both public and private  sectors of Nigeria’s media Industry with a common  determination to enhance the practice of responsible journalism..

    Lawal, on his part, is also a former Honourable Commissioner for Information,Youth, Sports and Culture of Osun state, his home state.

    Biola Lawal had also successfully served two tenures as Press Secretary to the ECOMOG Force Commander in Liberia during the Liberian and Sierra Leone Civil wars. He was an outstanding NAN Defence and War Correspondent for many years.

    The retired NAN Acting Boss holds the honour of being the only journalist that served two terms on the ECOMOG international assignment due to his high professionalism and decency.

    He is a Co-Author of the book; ECOMOG, A BOLD ATTEMPT AT REGIONAL PEACEKEEPING! Edited Mrs Magaret Voght.  The book remains the most. factual, detailed and authentic book on the ECOWAS sponsored ECOMOG Military operation.

  • Oyetola Cannot Win Osun Election by Punishing the People of Osun State, and History Will Remember the Illegality

    Oyetola Cannot Win Osun Election by Punishing the People of Osun State, and History Will Remember the Illegality

     

     

     

    By. Pelumi Olajengbesi Esq.

    There are moments in politics when a people must pause and ask a simple question. Are we still in a democracy, or are we drifting into the rule of force? Osun is standing at that junction today, and the signs are not comforting.

    What is playing out around local government administration in Osun is not ordinary political rivalry. It is a civic crisis dressed in partisan clothing. Tenure has a meaning in a democracy. It is time-bound, it is regulated, and it is not extended by audacity. When the lawful window closes, authority closes with it. Anything after that becomes an argument against the idea of elections itself. It becomes a suggestion that votes and courts do not matter, only access to coercive power.

    Yet, across Osun, local government secretariats have become contested territory, not administrative centres. People who insist they still hold office have remained within the premises under police cover, despite a legal and procedural atmosphere that points in the opposite direction. Workers who should be doing the daily work of government have been scared away, harassed, or intimidated. When civil servants are afraid to report to duty, that is no longer politics. That is occupation. And the message it sends to ordinary citizens is even more dangerous: that the law is negotiable once you have force behind you.

    Local government is the closest layer of governance to the people. When it is captured or paralysed, it is not politicians who suffer first. It is teachers in public primary schools. It is health workers in primary health centres. It is local government staff and retirees who depend on a system that should not be dragged into warfare. When council activity is disrupted and the flow of resources becomes contested, the people carry the burden through delayed salaries, weakened services, and stalled community needs. In plain language, the grassroots bleeds first while politicians posture.

    That is why my title writes itself this afternoon. Oyetola cannot win Osun by punishing Osun. Hardship is not a campaign plan. Siege is not mobilisation. The idea that you can squeeze a people into submission is not strategy; it is a misreading of Osun. Council secretariats do not vote. Bank accounts do not vote. Police barricades do not vote. People vote. And Osun has never been the kind of state that rewards anyone who approaches it with contempt for law and contempt for welfare.

    More importantly, this approach drags federal institutions into local quarrels and risks making them look partisan. That is always a costly mistake, because institutions may be powerful today, but history is longer than power. In a democracy, security agencies must protect peace, not protect illegality. They must guard the public interest, not guard political desperation. Once institutions are perceived as tools, public confidence collapses. And when public confidence collapses, society becomes unstable. Nobody wins that game.

    If anyone truly seeks power in Osun, the road remains the same road democracy provided: persuasion, structure, credible campaigning, and the ballot. Any other route may create noise, but it will also create anger. And anger, in Osun politics, has a memory.

  • Osun: Akinleye Urges Massive Voting for Adeleke

    Osun: Akinleye Urges Massive Voting for Adeleke

     

    –    Says;  A wise people do not abandon a path that leads to light.

     

    By Biola Lawal

    Oshogbo (Flowerbudnews): The Chief of Staff (CoS)  to Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, has urged the people to vote massively to re-elect Gov. Adeleke during the state’s Gubernatorial election slated for August 8.

    Akinleye made the call in a statement he issued to canvass support for the Governor ‘s re-election under the platform of Accord Party.

    The  Chief of Staff noted that ”in just three years, Governor Ademola Adeleke (Imole) has rekindled hope, restored dignity to governance, and delivered people-centered development that speaks louder than promises.”

    Akinleye write:

    As our elders say, “when good rain falls, the farmer does not change his seed.”

    The visible progress across Osun State today stands in clear contrast to the years of neglect and maladministration our people endured under the previous administration.

    Continuity is the bridge between success and greatness.

    To consolidate these gains and keep the light shining, I humbly call on all lovers of progress to support the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke for a second term under the Accord Party.

    A working hand deserves another opportunity, and a leader who serves with heart deserves the people’s trust.

    Let us pray, support, and re-elect Governor Ademola Adeleke (IMOLE).

     

  • Wike must go, workers protest at industrial court in Abuja

    Wike must go, workers protest at industrial court in Abuja

     

    Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Monday picketed the National Industrial Court in Abuja as part of an ongoing total and indefinite strike over unresolved labour disputes.

    The protest followed a directive from the NLC declaring full support for the industrial action, which it described as justified amid what it termed persistent violations of workers’ rights by the FCTA management and political leadership.

    At the court premises, protesters carried placards with messages reading “Wike must go!!”, “Abuja no be Rivers”, “Pay promotion arrears”, “Enough is Enough” and “No working tools”.

    The placards highlighted workers’ grievances as the strike continued without resolution.

  • Adeleke Demands Immediate Release of ₦130bn LG Fund, Decries Illegal Siege on Osun Council Secretariats

    Adeleke Demands Immediate Release of ₦130bn LG Fund, Decries Illegal Siege on Osun Council Secretariats

     

     

    … Accuses the Police of receiving Illegal Orders from Oyetola

     

    By Iyiola Olalere

    Governor of Osun State, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, has demanded the immediate release of over ₦130 billion in statutory allocations allegedly withheld from the state’s local governments, warning that the continued blockade is crippling grassroots governance and inflicting hardship on workers and residents.

    In a statewide broadcast on Monday on the illegal occupation of local government secretariats and the defence of democratic order, Adeleke said court-sacked All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmen and councillors had unlawfully occupied council offices across the state for nearly a year, despite judgments of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, in November 2022 and affirmations by the Court of Appeal in February and June 2025 nullifying their elections.

    This was disclosed in a statement by Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the Spokesperson to the Osun State Governor.

    “The court removed them, not my administration,” the governor said, stressing that fresh local government elections were conducted in compliance with subsisting court orders, leading to the swearing-in of duly elected chairmen and councillors on February 23, 2025. He described the current occupants of the secretariats as imposters acting without any lawful mandate.

    Adeleke accused the former governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, of allegedly backing the continued occupation with police support, an action he said undermines democracy and the rule of law.

    He further alleged that local government workers who attempted to resume duty were harassed and intimidated by armed police officers and political thugs.

    Central to the governor’s address was the withholding of local government funds. Adeleke disclosed that since February 2025, statutory allocations due to Osun local governments, now totalling about ₦130 billion, have not been released to the legal accounts of the councils.

    He said the funds are critical for the payment of salaries of primary school teachers, nurses, health workers in 332 primary health care centres, council workers, traditional councils, and retirees.

    According to him, the state government has had to look for funds and make painful sacrifices to keep salaries paid for almost 12 months, a situation he described as unsustainable.

    “Governance is about humanity, responsibility, and compassion, but this burden cannot continue indefinitely,” he said.

    The governor also accused the United Bank for Africa (UBA) of allegedly allowing unauthorized persons to operate local government accounts, adding that senior bank officials involved are already facing criminal prosecution. He questioned whether such actions would be tolerated in jurisdictions like New York or London, where the bank operates.

    Calling for federal intervention, Adeleke appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure the release of the withheld funds and to protect democratic institutions.

    He insisted that the President was not involved in the alleged illegality and urged him to rescue Osun local governments from what he described as an unlawful siege.

    “There is no provision in our Constitution for tenure elongation,” Adeleke said, framing the crisis as a choice between constitutional order and naked impunity.

    He called on Nigerians and democracy advocates to demand an immediate end to the occupation of local government secretariats and the release of council funds.

    The governor urged residents to remain peaceful and law-abiding, assuring them of his administration’s commitment to upholding the Constitution and safeguarding their welfar

  • Mr Oyetola, Please Allow Osun State to Breathe, Says Governor Adeleke

    Mr Oyetola, Please Allow Osun State to Breathe, Says Governor Adeleke

     

     

    -Illegal Occupation of Osun LGs: Despite Expiration of Self-Awarded Tenure, Tenure Elongation is Illegal in our Democracy–  Governor Adeleke

    By Mallam Olawale Rasheed,
    Oshogbo:  Governor of Osun State, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, has decried the illegal extension of self awarded tenure by chairmen and councillors of the All Progressive Congress (APC), declaring that tenure elongation is not allowed under the Nigerian constitution and within the context of established Supreme Court precedents

    In a state broadcast today in Osogbo, the Governor spoke further: “It is a settled matter of law, that the tenure of elected officials in Nigeria cannot be extended for a single day after the expiration of their tenure. The Supreme Court in the case of former Governor Ladoja of Oyo State ruled that the governor’s tenure cannot be extended after finding in his favor, that he was removed from office illegally for about eleven months and reinstated him to office.

    “In several fillings that have become public documents in our courts, including the Supreme Court, their lawyers and the Attorney-General of the Federation admitted that these APC chairmen and councillors have no claim to office beyond October 22, 2025.

    “To further confirm that their so-called tenure has expired, the APC chairmen and councillors, approached the Federal High Court, seeking for an extension of their expired tenure.

    “That case has not been heard. But the very act of seeking extension amounts to a clear admission, both in law and in fact, that whatever so-called tenure they claimed they had, had expired. Assuming, without conceding, that the APC chairmen and councillors had any tenure, the tenure expired on October 22, 2025.

    “Despite these incontrovertible legal facts, they have continued to occupy the local government secretariat by brute force with police protection, allegedly acting on the instructions of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the governor clarified.

    Pointing accusing fingers at former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, Governor Adeleke expressed sadness that “in a democracy, these APC chairmen and councillors threatened in their various social media platforms, that they will continue to occupy the local government secretariats for as long as they want because they claim to have the backing of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

    Charging Mr Oyetola to allow Osun to breathe, the state governor narrated several attempts by the APC court sacked chairmen to create mayhem in Osun as a basis for declaration of a state of emergency, explaining how his administration frustrated several evil plots hatched against Osun people.

    While condemning illegal occupation of the local governments, the governor wondered why in a democracy unlawful people are allowed by the police acting under the instruction of Mr Oyetola to illegally hijack and occupy the councils, asking if we are still practicing democracy.

    According to the governor, “sometimes, I wonder if we are really under a democratic system of government, where nobody is above the law. In Osun State, it seems that the APC chairmen and councillors, whose so-called tenure have expired are above the law, by the grace of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

    “I have formally written to heads of relevant federal security agencies regarding actions that threaten peace, and order in Osun State. It is deeply unfortunate that former Governor Gboyega Oyetola has chosen to weaponize federal institutions, particularly the Nigerian Police force, also he has equally applied same to the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) to impose hardship and suffering, on the good people of Osun State through alleged illegal instructions”, the governor submitted.

    The governor also accused the United Bank for Africa (UBA) of allegedly allowing unauthorized persons to operate local government accounts, adding that senior bank officials involved are already facing criminal prosecution. He questioned whether such actions would be tolerated in jurisdictions like New York or London, where the bank operates.

    He appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene by stopping former Governor Oyetola from.issuing illegal directives to the police, warning that “Mr. President’s name is being used without his knowledge by former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, to get the Nigerian police and the UBA to obey his alleged illegal directives.

    Repeating the fact that there is no place in our constitution and laws that allows for tenure elongation for any elected official, Governor Adeleke noted that “what confronts us here is, law versus lawlessness, constitutional order versus naked impunity.

    “I therefore call on Nigerians and all those who sacrificed so much for our democracy, to join us in demanding an immediate end to the siege on our local governments”, the governor noted in the broadcast.

    (Mallam Olawale Rasheed is the
    Spokesperson to the Osun State Governor.)

  • Hearing in final forfeiture suit of UK property linked to Useni, Ozekhome stalled

     

     

    Hearing in a suit filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for the final forfeiture of a United Kingdom (UK) property linked to the late Jeremiah Useni, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN was, on Monday, stalled.

    The case, listed for mention before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja could not proceed due to inability of CCB to effect a proper service of the motion for final forfeiture and hearing notice on the respondents.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CCB, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2333/2025, had named the Administrators of the Estate of late Gen. Jeremiah Useni, the Executors of the Estate of Late Gen. Jeremiah Useni and the Property No. 79, Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

    In the motion on notice dated Dec. 18, 2025 but filed Dec. 22, 2025 by its lawyer, Sufyan Ahmad, the CCB sought an order of final forfeiture of the property of the deceased respondent situated at No. 79, Randall Avenue, Neasden, London NW2 7SX, reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.

    Ahmad, in a four-ground argument, said the court had the inherent as well as the statutory powers under the provisions of Section 7, 17, 19 and 67 of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022, Sections 6 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), to grant the application.

    He argued that the property sought to be forfeited is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity under Sections 17 and Section 19 of the Proceeds Of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act (POCA), 2022.

    The lawyer said the court granted an interim order of preservation of the said property on Nov. 28, 2025, and directed that the said order be published for persons, authority whether corporate or otherwise to indicate interest.and file necessary process why the property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    He, however, submitted that no persons, authority whether corporate or otherwise indicated interest and or filed any process contesting why the property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    When the case was called on Monday, no lawyer appeared for the respondents though the CCB’s counsel was in court.

    Ahmad then informed the court that their motion on notice, filed on Dec. 22, 2025, had been duly served and the proof of service filed accordingly.

    When Justice Nyako asked how they effect the service of the court documents, the lawyer said they used the deceased’s address.

    Ahmad said the bailiff took the documents to the late Useni’s one of his property in his assets declaration form in Jos but they were told the deceased was no longer there.

    He said they were directed to a legal firm but the firm said it had no authority to receive the documents.

    He said through the law firm, they got the address of the deceased’s daughter in Abuja and the court documents were served on the daughter.

    The judge then asked if the daughter was the “administrator of the estate” listed on the face of the motion on notice and the lawyer responded in the negative.

    When the judge also asked if Ahmad was aware of Useni’s will, he equally responded in the negative.

    Justice Nyako, who faulted the service of the documents, said Ahmad ought to apply for a substituted service so that anyone who is interested in the matter could join issues with them, especially the 3rd respondent.

    The judge subsequently adjourned the matter until Feb. 25 for mention.

    In the affidavit in support of the motion on notice for final forfeiture deposed to by a CCB’s investigator, Raji Rasaq, he said on Nov. 28, 2025, the court granted an interim preservation order in respect of the property.

    He said pursuant to the said order, his office caused a publication to be made in a widely circulated national newspaper inviting any person with interest in the said property to show cause within 14 days why the property should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    Rasaq said since the publication, no person or entity had come forward to show cause or establish any legitimate interest in the property.

    He said that the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) of the United Kingdom in suit REF/2023/0155 delivered judgment confirming that the late Useni was the true owner of the property, having purchased it under a fictitious name.

    The investigator said that the judgment further established that the “alias” used was intended to conceal the identity of the beneficial owner and suppress official documentation.

    According to him, the deceased acquired the property during his tenure in public office and the circumstances strongly indicate that the funds used were from unlawful activity.

    He said the CCB obtained the remuneration package for political, public and judicial officers from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the agency of government responsible for determining remuneration for political, public and judicial officers for a net worth analysis of the deceased while in service.

    The investigator said a net worth analysis conducted by the Financial Investigation and Forensic Accounting Unit (FIFAU) of the CCB, using the salary scale for political, public and judicial officers as provided by the RMAFC, found out that the deceased declared income at the time was grossly insufficient to account for the acquisition of the property.

    “That there is substantial ‘unexplained funds’ gap indicating that funds used for the acquisition must have come from other, undisclosed or undeclared sources.

    “That this gap constitutes a strong circumstantial indicator of potential fraud/unreported income or illicit accumulation of wealth.

    “That accordingly, the means of acquisition of the London property constitutes proceeds of unlawful activity,” he averred.

    Rasaq his office possesses the asset declaration form of the deceased wherein he declared ownership of the property even though it was purchased under a fictitious name.

    “The said form is already annexed as Exhibit B in the earlier application,” he said.

    He said there was reasonable ground to believe that the property constituted the proceeds of unlawful activity as indicated by the analysis of FIFAU.

    He said it would be in the overriding interest of justice for the court to grant a final forfeiture order in favour of the Federal Government.

    NAN reports that also named in the property dispute is Ozekhome.

    The matter, filed at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) Land Registration, UK, under case number: REF/2023/0155, listed Tali Shani as the applicant and Ozekhome as the respondent.

    The property had been claimed by one “Ms Tali Shani” on one hand and Ozekhome on the other.

    Ozekhome said he received the house as a gift from “Mr Tali Shani” in 2021, while lawyers for “Ms Shani” insisted she was the rightful owner.

    A witness known as “Mr Tali Shani” had testified in favour of Ozekhome, claiming that he had “Powers of Attorney” over the property and had transferred the property to the respondent (Ozekhome).

    Mr Tali Shani asserted ownership of the property from 1993 and claimed he later appointed Useni as his property manager, describing Useni as an “elder friend and business partner”.

    On the other hand, several documents, including an obituary announcement, NIN card, ECOWAS passport, phone number, etc were tendered by witnesses of Ms Tali Shani to claim ownership of the property.

    However, the tribunal found all the documents tendered for Ms Tali Shani to be fake.

    The tribunal subsequently dismissed all claims, ruling that neither “Mr” nor “Ms” Tali Shani existed.

  • The Architecture of the Void: On Mimetic Policy and the Deindustrialized State

     

    _By Majekodunmi O. Ebhohon_

    *Introductory Note:

    On January 14, 2026, I had the honour of engaging with a Professor and ASUU veteran that lasted exactly 1 hour and 27 minutes. The session was so electrifying that, immediately following the call, I offloaded, on my notepad, the positions into an outline and subsequently produced a poetic replication of the outline, for my generation.

    I am sharing both the thematic outline and the resulting poem below. It is my hope that the academic community finds this poetic “simplification” of these critical issues worthy of a seat within our citadels of learning.

    *Thematic Outline*

    I. *Macroeconomic Interdependence and Imperial Hegemony*

    * The psychological and fiscal tethering of the Naira to the USD.
    * The “Greenback” as a symbol of colonial remnants in modern finance.
    * The systemic risk of Dollarization in a volatile global market.

    II. *Structural Deindustrialization and the Productive Void*

    * The atrophy of physical manufacturing (“grinding metal, steam, conveyor belts”).
    * The transition from a production-based economy to a consumption-based vacuum.
    * The outsourcing of labour and the loss of national technical agency.

    III. *The Paradox of Mimetic Policy*

    * The adoption of Western fiscal models (Tax and Spend) without the corresponding industrial base.
    * The “Neighbour’s House on Fire” syndrome: replicating the failures of a declining superpower.
    * The disconnect between state “visions” and material reality.

    IV. *Institutional and Media-Driven Obfuscation*

    * The role of leadership in rebranding economic contraction as growth.
    * The “Orchestra” metaphor: bureaucratic performance in an empty institutional structure.
    * The “Conductor’s” exit: the desertion of responsibility by the ruling class.

    V. *Geopolitical Fallout and Peripheral Impact*

    * The “Cushion” theory: the Global South absorbing the impact of a Global North collapse.
    * The end of the Unipolar era (“The world that has left the building”).
    * The debasement of currency as a precursor to social and structural disintegration.

    ***

    *THE GREEN AGREEMENT*

    I am looking at a greenback on my desk,
    a small slip of oxide ink
    that carries the weight of an empire
    I have never actually visited.

    It is a curious thing, the way we stare
    at the portrait of a foreign president
    as if his wig held the secret to our next meal,
    while outside, the actual sun is doing its best
    to remind us that the soil is still there.

    There is a particular kind of optimism
    in watching a neighbour’s house on fire
    and deciding that the best course of action
    is to model your own living room after his.

    We are currently polishing the brass
    on a ship that is tilting quite noticeably,
    convinced that because the hull is painted
    in the colours of a superpower,
    the water rushing in must be a luxury.

    I think of the grinding metal, steam, loud noises,
    heat and conveyor belts we do not have,
    the way we have outsourced our very hands
    to a place across the ocean that no longer
    remembers how to use its own.

    We are holding a bale that is essentially
    a polite agreement to be disappointed later.

    It is like standing in a long, orderly queue
    to buy a ticket for a train that has already
    been sold for its weight in scrap metal.

    The new tax bill arrives on the porch
    with the cheerful persistence of a stray cat,
    ready to eat the crumbs of a loaf
    that was never actually placed in the oven.

    It is a masterclass in the art of the vacuum—
    a system designed to collect the air
    from a room that is already a vacuum.
    We are taxing the shadows of things
    we used to produce when the lights were on.

    I watch the television where a man
    in a very expensive suit explains
    that the plummeting of the green paper
    is merely a new way of soaring.

    He doesn’t mention that our own paper
    is tied to it with a short, heavy rope,
    or that when the giant finally hits the floor,
    we will be the ones to provide the cushion.

    It is a strange time to be an observer,
    noticing that the instrument we are playing
    is missing most of its strings,
    yet we continue to sit in the orchestra
    waiting for a conductor who is currently
    backstage, frantically packing his bags.

    We are waiting for a version of the world
    that has already left the building,
    leaving us with a pocketful of useless ink
    and a very high price for the privilege
    of watching the curtains finally close.

    ***

    _(Majekodunmi O. Ebhohon is a Nigerian poet and playwright. He is the author of ‘The Great Delusion’, winner of the ANA Prize for Drama, 2025. He writes from Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. _
    _+234 (0) 9139208624_
    _sankara101010@gmail.com_)

  • Department of English and Literature, University of Benin, Adopts _The Great Delusion_ for Study, ANA 2025 FIRST PRIZE for Drama

    Department of English and Literature, University of Benin, Adopts _The Great Delusion_ for Study, ANA 2025 FIRST PRIZE for Drama

     

     

    By Charles Odibechi Nwajei

    We are pleased to announce that _The Great Delusion_ has been adopted for study by the Department of English and Literature at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.

    We extend our sincere appreciation to the Department and the University of Benin for their unrelenting commitment to intellectual solvency, critical inquiry, and rigorous engagement with contemporary African thoughts. Such institutional openness to an ANA-First Prize debut play (2025) remains vital to the future of scholarship and creative production across the continent and its global diaspora.

    _The Great Delusion_

    _The Great Delusion_ by Majekodunmi Oseriemen Ebhohon is a theatrical tragedy and socio-political satire formulated within the frameworks of *Afrocession* and *Episteresurrecism*, assessed by Professor G.G. Darah as a “major contribution to the literature of diaspora civilization.” The drama explores a distinct thematic architecture:

    *The Afrocession Framework*

    A dramatisation of the global, coordinated withdrawal of the Black race from the structures of Western hegemony. It posits the return to the ancestral homeland as a final, decisive response to centuries of systemic exploitation.

    *The Collapse of Parasitic Civilization*

    The play dramatises the terminal decline of a global order which, having built its advancement upon the unacknowledged scientific and manual labour of Black Africans, finds itself intellectually and structurally insolvent upon their departure.

    *Episteresurrecism*

    A shift from contesting historical erasure to the active restoration of African sovereignty, centering the consequences of a world suddenly deprived of the Black ingenuity that anchored its foundations.

    *Distinctions and Recognition*

    The play is the winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Prize for Drama (2025) and was an official selection at the Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) 2025, organized by the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA).

    Published by Ofuname Waves Publishers, the work features a foreword by Dr. Vibert Issa White, Professor of History, University of Central Florida, and a critical review by Professor G.G. Darah, eminent scholar of Oral Literature, Folklore, and Cultural Studies.

    We are honoured by this adoption and grateful for the confidence placed in the work by an institution committed to sustained intellectual rigour.

     

    (*Charles Odibechi Nwajei
    Chairman, Institute of Episteresurrecist Arts (IEA)
    episteresurrecism@yahoo.com)