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Echoes of Military Coups in Nigeria-Segun Adeniyi

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2 years ago

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By Segun Adeniyi

Two important books that speak to the most brutal military era in Nigeria’s history will be publicly presented in Abuja in the coming weeks. The first, on 18 November, is ‘Nine Lives: The Bello-Fadile Memoirs’. A retired Colonel of the Nigerian Army with a doctorate degree in law, Ralph Sixtus Babatunde (RSB) Bello-Fadile was a principal actor of the 1995 “phantom coup” against the late General Sani Abacha. He was arrested, tried and sentenced to death in the tragic saga that implicated dozens of prominent Nigerians, including Olusegun Obasanjo (a General and former military Head of State who would later be elected the first president under the current dispensation), his erstwhile deputy, Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (rtd) who died in Abakaliki prison and Brigadier General Lawan Gwadabe (rtd). In his memoir, Bello-Fadile recounts not only his experience but also the story of his life and career. Former military leader, General Ibrahim Babangida, wrote the foreword.

The second book, ‘Bold Leap’, is the autobiography of Senator Chris Anyanwu. Respected journalist and publisher, Anyanwu was also arrested and tried for the same 1995 ‘foiled coup’, following a publication in her magazine. Accused of being an “accessory after the fact of treason”, Anyanwu was sentenced to life imprisonment which was later reduced to 15 years. Like other survivors, Anyanwu only regained freedom after the death of Abacha. I will be the reviewer of her very insightful memoir (Obasanjo wrote the foreword) at the public presentation in Abuja on December 2.

Of these two books, the one that concerns me today is ‘Nine Lives’. Interestingly, when I sought an advance copy from the author, he wondered what fired my interest. In Anyanwu’s book, she recounted a day she received a new inmate in her detention room named Rebecca Ikpe from Benue State. “Her arrest was part of the madness that descended on Abacha’s government at the time. Ikpe was not in the military. Neither was she a journalist. Her crime was that she was the sister of the wife of one of the accused officers—Colonel Bello Fadile,” wrote Anyanwu who also profiled the officer. And then this: “Fadile’s interrogation was legendary. The story was that he was chained to the wall, upside down at the underground space in Ikoyi cemetery detention. They beat him to pulp…”

Aside his fascinating family story which readers will enjoy, the bigger picture in Bello-Fadile’s book begins with a chronology of coup d’etats in Nigeria (with insights into each), including the 1995 ‘attempt’ against Abacha. It was a precursor to another in December 1997 in which Abacha’s deputy, the late Lt. General Oladipo Diya, and then Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ishaya Bamayi as well as other Generals including Abdulkareem Adisa and Tajudeen Olarewaju were played against one another. All factors considered, the only conclusion to draw after reading ‘Nine Lives’ is that military regimes are about arbitrariness, intrigue, treachery, powerplays and impunity. With decrees and edicts (including retroactive ones) crimes and punishment can be invented at will to deal with just about anybody who disagrees with those at the helm of affairs.

Meanwhile, Bello-Fadile’s memoir opens with Babangida’s long foreword. “Upon his graduation from Law School in 1978, as the first military trained legal practitioner, he returned to the Nigerian Army for posting and redeployment. I purchased for him the Armoured Corps (Recce) beret, belt, and line yards and requested that he change over from the Infantry to the Armoured Corps,” Babangida wrote about Bello-Fadile. “I was a full Colonel and Corps Commander and Bello-Fadile, a Lieutenant, looked at me and said, ‘Sir, it would be unwise to concentrate all our resources/assets on a single platform—let me remain in the Infantry, the Queen of Battle, while your firepower and manoeuvring is guaranteed in the Armoured Corps’. I could not hold back laughing and saying in Hausa, ‘loya kenan’ (that’s a lawyer for you).” Bello-Fadile’s memoir, according to Babangida, “derives its title from the concept of feline immortality, symbolising the exceptional circumstances in which Bello-Fadile has managed to endure life’s hardships.”

For somebody with his level of education and exposure, it is remarkable that Bello-Fadile is somehow superstitious. But he had his reason for believing that somewhere in Ikoyi, Lagos, there is a haunted (‘jinxed’, as he put it) property. “That house, at No 9A Macpherson Avenue, was at the junction between Bourdillon Road and Macpherson Avenue. It was later rebuilt and housed the Grenadian Mission in Nigeria. The officers who stayed there were, in one way or the other, involved in coup d’etats.” And here goes his explanation: “Of all the officer residents, I am the only one alive today to say something about that house. Those who stayed there were: Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka, Major Mike Aker Iyorshe and Lieutenant Colonel Musa Bityong. The four of us were later to be tried (at different times) by the Special Military Tribunal for treason/treasonable felony. We were all found guilty…”

Bello-Fadile indeed had several brushes with death while serving in the army. On 26 September 1992, a Nigeria Airforce (NAF) C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed three minutes after take-off in Lagos, killing all 159 military officers (151 Nigerians, 5 Ghanaians, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Zimbabwean and 1 Ugandan) on board. By his account, Bello-Fadile would have been on the flight. There were several other instances where he cheated death by a whisker. None was as close as the ‘Vatsa Coup’. But the story of his miraculous escape started a few years earlier. At that period, Bello-Fadile had a prominent foe: Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) who would also become a two-term civilian president. The animosity had its origin in a drama that happened when Bello-Fadile was a Captain and Buhari was a Brigadier General and General Officer Commanding (GOC) at Ibadan.

The moment Buhari became Head of State in December 1983, one of his first directives was that he didn’t want to see Bello-Fadile around. But because Buhari’s disdain for the officer was not shared by others, including then Chief of Army Staff, Babangida, efforts were made to shield Bello-Fadile who was merely warned to stay out of limelight and avoid anything that would make Buhari remember him. That warning was heeded until the day Bello-Fadile had to take a message to then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, the late Major General Tunde Idiagbon. Buhari sighted him! What followed the next day was an encounter with Babangida who asked whether Bello-Fadile did anything to attract Buhari’s attention. When he answered in the affirmative, Babangida told him how his fate had been decided. Let’s take the story from Bello-Fadile:

“The Head of State does not want you in Dodan Barracks. So, to avoid trouble, pick three places and I will post you to one of them,” he (Babangida) repeated. “All right sir, no problem. I can go to Army Headquarters or the Directorate of Army Legal Services or any other places of your choice,” I replied. “The Head of State does not want you in the Lagos area at all,” he responded, without his usual smiling facial expressions. At that point, I knew he was in a very difficult position. So, I said, “It seems to me that the Head of State does not want me in the Army…” He then cut in and said, “But you have your Masters, why not go and do a PhD? With that, I can post you to the Nigerian Defence Academy and tell the Commandant that you were on your way to ABU.” I thanked him as I accepted his suggestion. That was how I found my way to the NDA in Kaduna as an instructor, enroute to ABU, Zaria for a four-year PhD programme in International Law that was fully funded by the Army.

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Bello-Fadile was pursuing his doctorate programme when Babangida overthrew Buhari in August 1985. Five months later, then Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and renowned poet, Major General Mamman Vatsa was arrested for trying to topple the government of his bosom friend. Several other officers were arrested in connection with the foiled coup plot. Bello-Fadile had just returned to Kaduna from a field trip abroad when he received a signal to report in Lagos. One of the officers implicated in the coup asked that he (Bello-Fadile) defend him. This was a routine matter within the military, but the moment Bello-Fadile arrived at the Military Tribunal venue in Lagos, he was confronted with what he didn’t bargain for: As I proceeded, the Brigade of Guards Commander, Colonel John Mark Inienger called me into his office to know what I was doing there. I showed him the signal. He then told me the unimaginable story of my life. He said there had been a manhunt for me, ordered by the Chief of Army Staff, General Sani Abacha. He said four of the accused officers—Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa; Lt Colonel Bityong, Lt Colonel Mike Aker Iyorshe and Major Tobias Akwashiki—had requested that I should be their defending officer at different locations and times. Based on this, it was concluded that I must be one of them. However, after searching everywhere, they discovered that I was on a scholarship in the University and out of the country on a six-week sponsored studies by the Army.

With that information, Bello-Fadile knew he was treading dangerous ground. In his interactions with Vatsa and others at the Tribunal venue, he could only offer encouraging words after hearing their stories. Throughout his time with the accused officers, according to Bello-Fadile, the words of Inienger echoed in his head. During tea break, a man he described as his military Guardian Angel showed up. He was none other than then Director of Military Intelligence, Colonel Haliru Akilu, who told him: “You are the one who wants to defend those who want to kill Oga? Better go to Dodan Barracks and explain yourself to Oga now!” 🤣

The rest of the story, as recounted by Bello-Fadile:

I headed straight to Dodan Barracks to report myself with the signal, requesting me to come down to Lagos for defence duty, in my hand. On arrival at the office of the Aide-de-Camp to the President, we greeted, and I told him what happened at the venue of the Special Military Tribunal. He then asked me to go and sit in the waiting room of the President. This was shocking to me because I normally sit in the ADC’s office and have coffee, snacks and groundnuts, while waiting to see the president. That day was strange, and I started thinking I had gotten into a very big problem. I could see and felt the tension in the ADC’s face and indeed the entire office. I went out and turned left into the waiting room. There I waited to be called to go upstairs to see the President. It did not happen for hours. I kept waiting, until I looked up and saw Mr President coming down. I stood up and went close to the open door and saluted. With his beret in his right hand, he looked at me and said ‘Fadile’, then turned right and headed towards the residence. Of course, that was it—the end of the day, and we all followed him to his residence. He sat down in the main living room and removed his shoes. After about five minutes, he stood up and said, “Good day gentlemen” and disappeared into his room.

We all returned to the ADC office. Then he asked, ‘have you finished your research work in London?’ To which I replied in the negative. He then brought out some money and gave it to me. He advised me to proceed to London through Kano airport to finish my research work. He also gave me someone’s number in London to call and said that the person would give me some pounds to spend for the duration of my stay in the city. With thanks to him, and glory to the Mighty One, I went back to Kaduna the following day. A day after I arrived Kaduna, I packed my load and headed to Kano for my flight to London 🤣. That was how I ‘escaped’ possible death by firing squad, just for being picked as a defending officer by four known fellow officers of the Nigerian Army. I was still in London when the news broke on 5 March 1986 that Vatsa and his co-travellers had been found guilty of a coup attempt and executed by firing squad…

As Accused Number One, it is no surprise that the central issue in Bello-Fadile’s memoir is ‘The Enterprise’ as he dubs the 1995 ‘coup’. He provides rare insights as he recounts how he was “handcuffed and chained to a steel cabinet while standing” and how Gwadabe was “tortured almost to the point of death”. Some of the people who played negative roles in that episode, by his account, include Major General Felix Mujakperuo (rtd), who is now the Chairman of Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the all-power Chief Security Officer to the late Abacha, who regularly invited top traditional rulers in the country to watch ‘coup videos’ with hefty envelopes as their ‘pop corns’. He, of course, is now a politician. There were many others within the military establishment at the time and Bello-Fadile named them. But he also remembers with glowing admiration the late Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti whose fax message to London, received by then British Prime Minister, John Major, may have saved him and other convicts from being executed by Abacha.

Overall, Bello-Fadile’s book sheds light on military rule in Nigeria, and it is important for a time like this. Last month, the presidency had an altercation with The Guardian newspaper over a publication deemed to be inciting mutiny against President Bola Tinubu, a charge the newspaper has dismissed. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had rehashed the story’s introduction which he described as coup-baiting: “Nigerians were exhilarated with the return of democracy in 1999, but 25 years on, the buccaneering nature of politicians, their penchant for poor service delivery, morbid hatred for probity, accountability, and credible/transparent elections, among others, are forcing some flustered citizens to make extreme choices, including calling for military intervention in governance…Deep despondency permeates every facet of the polity consequent upon soaring cost of living.”

The Guardian has defended its October 25 lead story, ‘Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices’, and I do not see anything in the report that suggests the presidential imputation. Besides, most of the senior people at The Guardian were around during military rule so nobody can lecture them on that. I once shared my own experience. I was arrested at 3am by truckloads of soldiers who were evidently shocked that their victim was just a “small boy” (they told me themselves, because they didn’t even know the crime I was supposed to have committed or what I was doing for a living until I told them, and they became very sympathetic). The bullying and threats by Colonel Frank Omenka in the name of interrogation that lasted five days at the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) dungeon in Apapa, Lagos still ring in my head. But I was fortunate. Not many people survived DMI to tell their stories while for some, the scars (physical and emotional) of that era will follow them to their graves.

My take-away from Bello-Fadile’s book is the arbitrariness of military rule and that soldiers have no magic solution for dealing with complex socio-political problems. It is also clear that coup d’etats (whether they succeed or fail) are products of the political environment in the country. “Like most human follies, military coups sound good at the time; and always fail” according to a January 2006 edition of the ‘Economist’ magazine, following a coup d’etat that toppled a corrupt civilian leadership in Bangladesh. “They sound good because what they replace is usually bad: riotous civilian leaders, corrupted institutions, stolen elections. They fail because beneath the chaos are political problems that soldiers cannot unpick…”

As I stated last year, I am aware that the only government most Nigerians (given our demographics) have experienced is the current civilian dispensation now 25 years old. But it is important for our young people to understand the danger that comes with coup d’etats. Under a military regime, the first thing to be suspended is the Constitution and the rights and liberties it confers on citizens. Suppression of the media will be automatic, and the courts will lose the limited powers they have to adjudicate over those freedoms. Interestingly, most Nigerian politicians (especially those for whom public office is about ‘eating’) will always find easy accommodation with the military. It is the media and civic space that would be under attack. For more on this, interested readers can download free copies of my book, ‘The Last 100 Days of Abacha’ from my web portal, olusegunadeniyi.com, for glimpses of what transpired when the resources and institutions of state were pressed into the service of one man and his political aspiration.

However, while a military coup offers no solution to socio-economic challenges, our politicians also cannot continue to assume indefinite immunity against the things that provoke such in other countries, especially within the subregion. Nor can they be under any illusion that the tide of violent rejection of substandard governance that we see elsewhere cannot happen here if they continue to live large at the expense of the people. What those in power today must never forget is that such disruptions are never scripted. Nor are they ever advertised ahead. They are usually spontaneous actions that most often result from innocuous things, especially when the people are pushed to the wall. That’s why memoirs like Bello-Fadile’s are another reminder of that time-tested admonition: Those who have ears…

**You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com**

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Opinion

Dry Taps Gone, Kano Flows Again: The Abba Yusuf Water Comeback By Abba Anwar

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1 day ago

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September 29, 2026

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By Abba Anwar

It is evidently clear and on record to understand that Kano thirsty decade is ending, as how His Excellency the Governor of Kano State, Eng Abba Kabir Yusuf is turning 95 years of ruin into a N21.3 Billion revival. This is leadership, commitment, display of patriotic political will and understanding of complexities and peculiarities of human existence.

What Kano is experiencing now, in terms of redirecting the water industry into human face, calls for global gist and account. For example in Cape Town, they called perennial shortage of water Day Zero – the day the taps would run dry.

In Flint, Michigan, history tells us that it was a lead poisoning crisis that shocked America. While in Kano, Africa’s most populous city, situated in Northern Nigeria, it was slower, quieter, and more painful. Very pathetic and heartbreaking, for over ten years, the taps simply stopped. No announcement. No Day Zero. Just air.

The history of Kano water sector reveals that the city needs 700 million litres of water every single day to survive. Until last year, it was getting less than 300 million. A deficit of 400 million litres. That is not a shortage; it is a systemic collapse. Mothers woke up at 4 a.m. to queue at boreholes. Children trekked kilometres with jerry cans. Industries shut down. Cholera whispered in the background.

Identification of problem didn’t match with problem diagnosis. For years, successive administrations applied plaster to a cancer. The current administration of Governor Yusuf has chosen to perform open-heart surgery. A better and neater option. Surgical operation not plaster application. Which catches and punches the right button.
And the heart is now beating again as the Governor means business and genuine service delivery.

Kano’s 95-year-old legacy, which I term as The Soul of a City, is a deliberate presentation for proper
understanding of the magnitude of what is happening now. Hence we must understand what was lost.

Kano’s water story did not start yesterday. It started in 1927, when the British colonial administration, under Emir Abdullahi Bayero, broke ground for what would become the first waterworks in Northern Nigeria – the Challawa Water Works. Completed in 1930, with a modest 20 million litres per day, it was an engineering marvel of its time. It supplied Dorayi, Kabuga, Kofar Fanfo, Jan Bulo, Rijiyar Zaki, and even the Army Barracks in Janguza. It ran non-stop for 86 years.

Then came its younger brothers. The Old Tamburawa in 1986 – 9.6 million litres, later upgraded to 20 million. Then the New Tamburawa, a behemoth with a 150 million litre per day capacity. And anchoring them all, the legendary Goron Dutse reservoirs – five massive underground and surface reservoirs built between 1930 and 1974, with a combined storage of over 40 million litres. They were the lungs of Kano’s distribution.

By whatever standard and estimation this was a system built by visionaries, with clearly defined vision. But it was, unfortunately, killed by neglect. Year in year out all the donkey years witnessed terrifying reality when city’s lifeline was utterly and irresponsibly looted.

To tell my reader that, that experience was worrying our Governor deeply even before he came on board, before he took the oath of office on May 29, 2023, he set up a powerful Committee of Experts to look into the perennial nature of the water industry. Immediately after he came on board his engineers gave him a report on water that read like a war zone assessment.

Since then, when I discussed the concern with a friend from Darmanawa he quickly commended the effort and called for public support of the entire process and procedures.

It was fundamentally clear that in Challawa, the scene was “pathetic and disheartening,” in the official words of the Ministry. Out of six giant industrial generating sets that power the entire plant when the national grid fails, only two were limping. Water Works No. 1 and No. 2 were dead. No. 3 was gasping at 30% capacity. A call for action at whatever rate.

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Worse than decay was destruction. Raw water pumps were gone. Electrical starters ripped from control rooms. Underground electrical facilities stolen. And in an act that shocked even veteran engineers, a 15-kilometre, 15.6 kilometre underground transmission pipeline – the artery that feeds Challawa – was excavated and stolen. Not vandalised. Stolen. Some individuals even walked into the premises claiming the federal government had sold the waterworks to them. A brazen dishonesty of the highest order.

At Goron Dutse, the story was even more symbolic. The reservoirs that had quenched Kano for nearly a century had not received a single drop of water for over ten years. Ten years! They were dry, cracked, and filled with silt. As bad as economies during conventional wars. Abandonment amid need for attention.

The total cost of decay was put at over N30 billion. An administration in the past had spent N5.6 billion in just 11 months for “maintenance” but it was maintenance without a soul. As pipes were not replaced, reservoirs were not desilted, pumps were not procured. The result? Tamburawa, designed for 150 million litres, was doing 27%. Challawa, designed for 220 million, was doing less than 30%. Together, they should produce 370 million litres. They were producing less than 90 million.

To revive just Challawa, an official told journalists that the state would need $3.5 million, later revised to over $10 million, because the 1930-era machines have to be custom-built in Europe on demand. They are not on any shelf in the world.

This is the rot Governor Yusuf inherited. To me, Governor Yusuf’s political will is doctrinal with no match in sight. Unmatched political will. It is glaring for all to know that great cities are not revived by press releases. They are revived by political will. This is where His Excellency separates himself from every administration in the last decade.

He did not send a committee. He went himself. Since from the start of the good re-engineering touch of the water facilities. For example just yesterday, he and his able Deputy H.E. Murtala Sule Garo alongside other top government functionaries visited water projects that are almost ready for good operations.

In a now-famous inspection tour, Governor Yusuf, in rain boots, walked the length of Challawa and Tamburawa with engineers from CGC Nigeria Limited and CCECC Nigeria Limited – the same Chinese engineering giants building Africa’s biggest dams and railways. He saw the leaking pipes. He saw the obsolete clarifiers. He saw the dead high-lift pumps. And there, on the spot, he made a decision that will define his legacy.

He approved without any hesitation, the sum of N21.29 billion. Wow! the single largest water investment in Kano in 15 years. Leadership by example. Viva our dear Governor Viva.

Not N21.89 billion in rumour. N21.29 billion in signed contracts. With N9.9 billion to CGC Nigeria Limited for the total rehabilitation of Tamburawa Water Treatment Plant and its raw water pump station. The sum of N11.39 billion to CCECC Nigeria Limited for the rehabilitation of Challawa Raw Water Pump Station, its treatment plant, and the total restoration of the Goron Dutse reservoirs. Action! Action!! Action!!!

This is not rehabilitation on paper. This is what is happening on the ground right now, as confirmed by Dr. Dahiru Muhammad Hashim, Acting Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change. That:

1. The critical 15.6-kilometre transmission line to Goron Dutse has been restored with modern ductile steel pipes, replacing the 1970s asbestos pipes that were poisoning the system.

2. Goron Dutse reservoirs have been fully desilted and repaired.

3. Clarifiers, filtration units, manifolds, and high-lift pumps have been restored.

4. Ten high-capacity 110-kilowatt pumps have been procured.

5. A full test run was completed in mid-September.

And beyond the metropolis, the Governor is doing what no one did – reviving the dead. Nine out of Kano’s 19 dormant regional water schemes are under restoration. Guzugu in Kabo is flowing. Joda in Gabasawa is flowing. Wudil Waterworks, dead for years, is alive. For the first time, rural Kano is part of the water equation. Government for all sections of the state.

On September 21, 2026, the Ministry officially announced: expanded distribution of potable water would commence within few days to come. All are waiting patiently Your Excellency Sir!

Why Kano must attract global communities? From London to Lagos, water is politics. The UN says water scarcity will displace 700 million people by 2030. What Governor Yusuf has done is a case study in how to reverse it without World Bank loans, without privatising your heritage.

He did not outsource the problem. He funded the solution. He did not blame the past. He fixed the future. Sometime in the past I spoke to Malam Musa in Tarauni, he was lamenting all over. When asked again, now, he simply smiles that Governor Yusuf is on the top of the situation. This is courageous.

When the taps in Kofar Mata sputter and then gush, when a child in Dala drinks from the tap for the first time in his life, when Goron Dutse reservoirs hold water again after a 10-year drought, Kano will not just be celebrating water. Kano will be celebrating a Governor who proved that a 95-year-old dream, buried under silt, stolen pipes, and failed promises, can still flow.

That is not just governance. That is unmatched and unwavering political will in action.

KANO FLOWS AGAIN UNDER GOVERNOR YUSUF!

Viva Kano. Viva Abba Gida-Gida.

Anwar writes from Kano
Tuesday, 29th September, 2026

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Opinion

The Tinubu Health Reset: A Consultant Examines Nigeria’s Healthcare Reforms

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2 days ago

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September 28, 2026

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By Dr. Usman Muhammad Shanawa

For decades, Nigeria’s healthcare system has faced a familiar set of challenges: inadequate infrastructure, limited access to specialised medical services, weak primary healthcare facilities, shortages of healthcare personnel and the rising financial burden of treatment on ordinary Nigerians.

Against this backdrop, the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pursued interventions across different levels of the healthcare system, ranging from primary healthcare and general hospitals to specialised tertiary facilities, digital health, emergency care and healthcare financing.

For Dr. Usman Muhammad Shanawa, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and specialist in Gynaecological Oncology with more than two decades of experience in clinical practice and healthcare management, the interventions deserve to be examined as part of a broader attempt to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare architecture.

Dr. Shanawa’s assessment moves across the three levels of healthcare delivery, ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary, while drawing particular attention to diagnostics, maternal healthcare, hospital infrastructure, health insurance and the growing role of technology.

For him, the real significance of healthcare reform lies not simply in the announcement of new projects, but in whether the changes improve access to quality medical care for Nigerians.

*Zamfara: A local window into the reforms*
Dr. Shanawa’s assessment begins from Zamfara State, where he says federal support and collaboration with state authorities have provided a local perspective on the changing healthcare landscape.

He recalled that financial constraints had historically affected the implementation of several healthcare projects at the state level.

According to him, increased federal financial support and policy interventions under the Tinubu administration created room for renewed investment, with 2025 emerging as a particularly significant period for healthcare development in the state.

He views the experience as an illustration of how government intervention can translate into improved access to healthcare when funding, policy and implementation converge.

*At the top: Expanding tertiary healthcare*
At the apex of Nigeria’s healthcare system are tertiary institutions, where patients with complex medical conditions are expected to receive specialised treatment and advanced diagnostic services.

Yet these institutions have historically faced technological and infrastructural gaps.

Dr. Shanawa identifies improved diagnostic capacity as one of the areas requiring sustained attention.

He points to technologies such as Computerised Tomography (CT) scanners and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as critical tools for modern medical practice.

For a specialist in gynaecological oncology, the issue carries particular weight.

Cancer care, he explains, depends heavily on timely and accurate diagnosis. The availability of sophisticated diagnostic and oncology services closer to patients can reduce the need for long-distance travel in search of specialised treatment.

He also points to the development of oncology facilities in states such as Katsina, Enugu and Edo as examples of efforts to expand specialised cancer services beyond traditional medical centres.

The broader implication, in his assessment, is that advanced healthcare should not remain concentrated in only a few locations.

*The missing link: Strengthening secondary healthcare*
Between the primary healthcare centre and the highly specialised tertiary hospital lies another crucial layer, that is the secondary healthcare.

For Dr. Shanawa, general and state hospitals remain an indispensable part of the healthcare chain.

These facilities often receive patients referred from primary healthcare centres and provide services beyond the capacity of frontline facilities, while also serving as important points for emergency treatment.

He particularly highlights emergency obstetric care.

For women experiencing complications during pregnancy or childbirth, he argues, the availability of properly equipped secondary hospitals and effective referral systems can be critical.

This makes the strengthening of general hospitals more than an infrastructure issue. It is also a question of how quickly the healthcare system can respond when lives are at risk.

*Primary healthcare: Rebuilding from the foundation*
If tertiary healthcare represents the peak of the system, primary healthcare is its foundation.

And this, according to Dr. Shanawa, is where one of the most important aspects of the current reforms lies.

Nigeria’s healthcare system has historically been characterised by patients bypassing weak or poorly equipped primary healthcare centres and seeking treatment directly at secondary and tertiary institutions.

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The result has been pressure on higher-level hospitals, with facilities already handling complicated cases also having to deal with conditions that could have been managed closer to patients’ communities.

Dr. Shanawa sees the renewed emphasis on primary healthcare as an attempt to reverse this pattern.

He argues that strengthening the base of the healthcare pyramid while maintaining improvements at the tertiary level is essential to creating a more functional system.

The Federal Government has reported the deployment of National Health Fellows and Public Financial Management Officers across all 774 local government areas under the health-sector renewal programme, alongside the revitalisation of primary healthcare facilities in priority areas.

For Dr. Shanawa, the importance of such interventions lies in bringing healthcare closer to the people before illnesses become more complicated.

*Maternal mortality: The doctor’s particular concern*
For an obstetrician, the discussion inevitably returns to maternal health.

Dr. Shanawa describes maternal mortality as one of Nigeria’s most persistent public-health challenges, one that has affected generations of Nigerian women.

He argues that strengthening primary healthcare, improving referral systems, expanding the frontline health workforce and ensuring access to emergency obstetric care are essential to addressing pregnancy-related complications.

The Federal Ministry of Health has reported improvements in maternal and newborn health indicators in areas targeted under its intervention programmes.

For Dr. Shanawa, however, the importance of such interventions ultimately comes down to whether a pregnant woman can obtain appropriate care at the time she needs it.

The journey from pregnancy to safe delivery, he suggests, depends on the strength of the entire healthcare chain, from community-level services to emergency and specialist hospitals.

Healthcare needs people, not just buildings
Infrastructure may be the visible face of healthcare investment, but Dr. Shanawa stresses that facilities cannot function without the professionals who operate them.

Doctors, nurses, midwives, community health workers, laboratory scientists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are central to translating infrastructure and equipment into actual medical services.

The Federal Government has reported recruitment and retraining initiatives for frontline and community-based health workers as part of its health-sector renewal efforts.

But recruitment is only one part of the challenge.

For the reforms to be sustained, healthcare workers must also be retained, properly deployed and supported with the equipment and working environment required to provide quality care.

*The cost of getting sick*
Another dimension of Nigeria’s healthcare challenge is affordability.

For many families, the question is not only whether a hospital exists, but whether they can afford the treatment available there.

Dr. Shanawa therefore places health insurance and healthcare financing alongside infrastructure and medical technology in his assessment of the reforms.

He points to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and broader efforts to expand health insurance coverage as mechanisms that could reduce the financial burden on patients.

The Federal Ministry of Health has reported significant increases in health insurance enrolment, while also acknowledging that out-of-pocket expenditure remains high.

This presents one of the central tests for healthcare reform: expanding services while ensuring that the people who need those services are not priced out of the system.

Healthcare goes digital
The transformation is also taking place beyond hospital walls.

Digital health and electronic medical records are increasingly becoming part of the effort to modernise Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Dr. Shanawa highlights electronic medical records and health-information exchange systems as important tools for improving the management and continuity of patient care.

The Federal Government’s Nigeria Digital in Health Initiative is intended to improve interoperability between healthcare facilities and facilitate the secure sharing of health information.

For a healthcare system spread across a vast country, better digital connectivity could help bridge some of the gaps between facilities and levels of care.

Measuring the Tinubu health reset
For Dr. Shanawa, the ultimate measure of healthcare reform is not the number of projects announced or facilities commissioned.

It is what happens to the patient.

Can a woman access skilled care when she needs it?

Can a patient obtain an accurate diagnosis without travelling hundreds of kilometres?

Can an emergency case receive timely treatment?

Can a family afford the cost of care?

Can healthcare professionals work with the equipment, personnel and systems they require?

These questions bring the debate back to the heart of healthcare delivery.

The Federal Government has reported progress across areas including infrastructure, digital health, primary healthcare, workforce development and maternal-health interventions.

But sustaining such gains will require continued financing, effective implementation, maintenance of infrastructure, retention of skilled professionals and stronger coordination among federal, state and local authorities.

For Dr. Shanawa, Nigeria’s healthcare system cannot be transformed by focusing on only one level.

The primary healthcare centre, the general hospital and the specialist tertiary institution must function as parts of the same system.

That, ultimately, is the test of the health reset, and whether the reforms can move beyond policy and infrastructure to create a healthcare system in which quality, affordable and accessible medical care is closer to the Nigerian who needs it most.

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Opinion

RE:WE ARE UNDER SIEGE: TARABA MONARCH BREAKS SILENCE AS FULANI BANDITS OVERRUN THE ANCIENT KWARARAFA KINGDOM:

Published

2 days ago

on

September 28, 2026

By

Wukari Traditional Council
Aku Uka’s Palace, Wukari, Taraba State

RE:WE ARE UNDER SIEGE: TARABA MONARCH BREAKS SILENCE AS FULANI BANDITS OVERRUN THE ANCIENT KWARARAFA KINGDOM:

The attention of the Aku Uka’s Palace has been drawn to a piece in the Social Media titled, “‘We Are Under Siege ‘: Taraba Monarch Breaks Silence as Fulani Bandits Overrun the Ancient Kwararafa Kingdom.”

The piece being referred to is credited to the Aku Uka, Dr. Ishaku Adda Ali, Matakhitswen, said to be contained in the speech he read at the recent Assembly of the ethnic nationalities of the old Kwararafa Confederacy organised by the Kwararafa Development Forum (KDF) in Abuja on Saturday, 19th September, 2026.
Below is the full text of the anonymous writer/commentator’s piece as it appeared in the Social Media, on Tuesday, 22nd September, 2026:

“The Aku-Uka of Wukari, HRM, Dr Ishaku Adda Ali, has raised a desperate alarm over the escalating security crisis engulfing the historic Kwararafa kingdom in Taraba State, declaring that the situation has reached a point where silence is no longer an option. Speaking at the 2026 Kwararafa People’s Assembly in Abuja, the monarch revealed that the old Kwararafa Confederacy—one of the oldest and most culturally significant traditional institutions in Nigeria—has come under sustained Fulani bandit siege, with communities living in constant fear. His intervention is significant because traditional rulers rarely speak this bluntly in public; when they do, it usually means the violence has overwhelmed local capacity and the state has failed to protect its people.

“The deeper implication is what this says about Nigeria’s widening security vacuum. Taraba sits at the crossroads of the North-East and North-Central, a corridor where Fulani bandits, kidnappers, and separatist militias operate with frightening impunity. If an ancient kingdom with deep historical roots and a sitting monarch can be “under siege” in 2026, then the federal government’s claims of progress against insecurity ring hollow. For the Tinubu administration, this is another embarrassing data point ahead of 2027: the violence is not confined to a few flashpoints—it is spreading into communities that once considered themselves safe. The Aku-Uka’s alarm is not just a Taraba problem; it is a warning that Nigeria’s security architecture is failing across multiple regions at once. And when kings begin to cry out, it is usually because the people have already been abandoned.”

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Our observations on the above piece are as follows:
1. The piece in question is not only mischievous, false and blatant lies but cowardly, as the writer has not the courage to disclose his or her identity. The speech read by the Aku Uka never mentioned any ethnic group, as the perpetrators of insecurity or violence as mentioned by the anonymous writer.

Let me quote exactly what the Aku Uka read in his speech on security:
“Our people have contributed immensely to Nigerian development in such areas as agriculture, the armed forces, natural resources, and culture, among others. Yet, many of our communities continue to suffer deprivation in areas such as infrastructure, economic opportunities, and general marginalization and discrimination in the nation’s political set up. Our appeal and clarion call is therefore simple: we seek for fairness, equity, justice, security and inclusion in all spheres of our national life.”
Why the writer made this blatant assertion by putting words into the mouth of the Aku Uka for something he (Aku) never said can not be fathomed to any sane person, except this mischief maker. The intention is to clearly create communal disharmony. The Aku Uka is a peace maker and would never be a party to anything that will bring about conflict among various groups in the country.

2. Aku Uka’s speech was not about Taraba State, but concerning the whole old Kwararafa Confederacy in modern Nigeria and the challenge of security generally, being experienced in a number of States in the country.

3. It is clear that the Federal Government under leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been making strenuous effort to address the various security issues across the whole country. The Aku Uka deeply appreciates such efforts and will continue to pledge his support in tackling and bringing to an end the security challenge.

4. Let me emphatically state that the Aku Uka’s speech he read was not about politics or the 2027 election. The Aku Uka is a traditional ruler who does not dabble into politics. It is therefore the height of irresponsibility and mischief to drag His Majesty into political matters. Furthermore, nowhere did Aku Uka make any reference to 2027 election in the speech he read or politics generally for that matter.
It is possible that the anonymous hack writer is fronting for his or her political masters agenda and so believe that by dragging the revered monarch into the political issues, they would reap political mileage out of this falsehood. If this is the intention of the mischievous writer, no doubt he or she has failed in this regard woefully. His Majesty, Dr Ishaku Adda Ali, Aku Uka’s sole concern is about fairness, justice, equity and progress of the descendants of the old Kwararafa Confederacy and indeed, the country as a whole.

DANJUMA A. ADAMU, Esq.
The NENE of the Jukun People

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