By Toyin Falola

Time has shown and confirmed that every great story has a moment where a new chapter begins and another one ends. The beginning of the new chapter, for as many who hope for it, comes with a breath of fresh promise and excitement. This feeling equates to the rising sun, which heralds a new day. At the beginning of the day, the sun rises and maintains a magnificent position in the sky, shining and radiating brightness as the day emerges. In its way, it stands out as an affirmation of the joy and excitement that comes with each day, smiling down at the people as they move about daily activities with great optimism.

The likeness of the sun as it takes its place every dawn, in this regard, is equated with the emergence of new components, such as a new leader, signifying renewed energy and vision. In other words, for friends and well-wishers of Northwest University, the emergence of a new leader depicts renewed energy and commitment to the vision and mission that kept the institution moving. Today, we eulogize a leader shaped by wisdom, service, and a deep passion for education as he steps forward to take the baton, marking a monumental paradigm shift that will undeniably materialize and be felt across every corner of the university community. No doubt, this is a new chapter for the school. It is one ushered by a steady hand and clear vision with great promises for growth, inspiration, and a lasting impact on the entire university community.

Good leadership, as they say, is the foundation of progress in every society. It undoubtedly involves guidance with integrity, pushing for growth, and inspiring collective action toward common and shared goals. In an academic setting, strong leadership, in a long way, shapes the academic culture, drives innovation, and opens doors of opportunities for students and faculty alike. It builds connections between the school and its community, preparing students to take on pacesetter roles for impacts in an ever-changing world. As Northwest University embraces a new era, there is no doubt that strong and visionary leadership is essential in steering the institution toward a bright and promising future. This alone is why we rejoice with the school, its faculty, students, and well-wishers on the choice and appointment of Professor Bunza as its new flag bearer. It is with sincere intention and a great sense of duty towards preaching and commending goodness that I pen these thoughts down in honour of the esteemed professor.

Professor Bunza’s emergence as the new Vice Chancellor is not only a personal triumph. Rather, it is a collective triumph that calls for celebrations for students and faculty members of the great learning institution. As the norm, Professor Bunza’s academic journey did not start at the peak level. Rather, it began as a humble student, driven by a true desire to learn and grow. This culminated in the drive for scholarship as he sought knowledge that led him to earn degrees from respected institutions, significantly from the prestigious Usman Danfodio University Sokoto, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in the Department of History with each step, marking his ascent to becoming a distinguished scholar.

What truly sets Professor apart since the outset is his relentless pursuit of understanding, which became a core trait that has shaped his entire career. All through his academic life, Professor Bunza has shown an unwavering dedication to excellence and substance. His taste for quality research across contemporary matters shows true scholarship and the innate need to view and analyse salient societal affairs through a thorough yet interesting and engaging academic engagement. Hence, his research is diverse across various fields.

The diversity has become a pointer showcasing his intellectual breadth and commitment to addressing meaningful issues. His contributions have enriched academic discussions and tackled pressing societal challenges in the field of history and sociology generally. Irrespective of the setting or mode, Professor Bunza’s work has consistently reflected his dedication to advancing knowledge for the greater good. To his credit are about one hundred book chapters, journals, and publications from domestic and international publications. In addition to these is the authorship of substantial books as a single author and co-author on history, language, biographies, and issues of national cohesion, amongst others. Prominent amongst his books is his work on Nigeria in Search of Stability: The Role of Religion, History and Language, a masterpiece published in 2020. As a man known for his intellectual rigor, learning, and innovation, it is exciting and correct to predict the replication of these traits within the university community.

He is a distinguished scholar with international recognition, having earned fellowships at prestigious institutions such as the Leventis Postdoctoral Research at SOAS, the University of London, and the ISITA Fellowship at Northwestern University in the USA. These accomplishments reflect his significant contributions to research and his respected position in the global academic community. He has also participated, on two occasions, in Carnegie-sponsored projects on private universities in Africa and, more recently, in his robust presentation in Kenya last May.

Away from his scholarly acumen, one thing that strikes my mind as I pen this today is the gracefulness of the esteemed professor. As an elite scholar whose job nature revolves around leading and taking charge, Professor Bunza’s approach to leadership is grounded in the philosophy that true leaders empower others. And as such, he has always worked to create spaces where others feel valued and supported. His leadership ideals greatly transcend the core of administrative duties; he believes in creating a sense of purpose and fostering an environment where everyone, from the brightest academic minds to the most dedicated community members, can thrive.

This translates to the great working environment that is evidenced across the various committees, organizations, and parastatals, where he had been reported to lead and take charge of matters relating to education. As a lecturer at Usmanu Danfodiyo University and across other institutions where he had taught, he had served as a committee head, member, administrative head, acting dean, head of department, and Dean of the faculty, leading with exemplary ideals that endeared him towards others. His brilliance led to his appointment as the Honourable Commissioner in the Ministry for Higher Education by the Kebbi Government twice. Before he was appointed Vice-chancellor, he served as the Director of the Centre for Peace Studies at Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University.

Beyond academia, Professor Bunza is a committed individual who believes in service to the community as an extension of his classroom activities. He has long understood that the quality of society is tied to the quality of education. He believes it is not about imparting knowledge but about creating positive change in society. He sees the manifestation of thought and learning through human action. Hence, there is an emphasis on bridging the gaps through community service. Through his community service, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that his influence extends beyond the classroom, contributing to causes that improve the lives of those around him.

For an individual with mountainous commitment from the academic community, Professor Bunza still dedicates time to impacting lives through his selfless services to humanity. Professor Bunza’s commitment to community service is as remarkable as his academic accomplishments. His involvement in various organizations reflects a deep dedication to the betterment of society. As a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Gwandu Emirate Development Association (GEDA) and the Zoromawa Development Association (ZODA), he has been instrumental in promoting development initiatives that enhance the quality of life for local communities. At the same time, his leadership as Chairman of the Education Committee at ZODA underscores his passion for improving educational opportunities, ensuring that young people have the tools they need to succeed. The Professor has carved a niche for himself within his immediate community as a man of impact. He has done so to show and exemplify the need to tackle social issues from the grassroots.

Notably, one great hallmark of Professor Bunza’s career will be his dedication to mentorship in a bid to create an enabling environment for the upcoming generations. It is in recognizing that the next generation of leaders, if well-led, will shape the future. He has always made time to listen and mentor young ones within and outside the academic world. He has been a mentor to countless students, colleagues, and young professionals, offering them guidance and support as they strive to reach their full potential. He is currently the Patron of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Bunza Area Unit, amongst others outside academics.

Within the academic settings, as an internal and external examiner, he has supervised student undergraduates’ and postgraduates’ thesis works where he extended scholarship and mentoring, which allowed these individuals to scale through the rigors of research and intellectual work seamlessly under his watchful eyes and guidance. His approach to mentorship, built on the belief that everyone has unique potential, defines the extent to which he goes to help others recognize their strengths and push beyond their limits, encouraging them to seek goals with determination and purpose. As Vice Chancellor, Professor Bunza’s dedication to mentorship will no doubt be a key part of his leadership. He will continue to inspire and support students, faculty, and administrative staff, helping them face the challenges of academic and professional life with confidence.

With immense pride and great expectations, I join my thoughts with others who celebrate Professor Bunza’s appointment as Vice Chancellor of Northwest University. It is a well-deserved recognition and a testament to his years of unwavering dedication, hard work, and commitment to academic excellence and leadership, which also underscores his invaluable contributions to the community and his innate passion for fostering education.

Deep down, I do not doubt that Professor Bunza will continue to inspire greatness, not just within Northwest University but across the wider academic landscape. His leadership marks the beginning of a promising new chapter, one that will equip students with the knowledge, skills, and values needed to excel in an ever-changing world. With Professor Bunza at the helm, the future of Northwest University is undoubtedly bright, and its path to greatness is clear.

By Tony Afejuku

Indigenes and citizens of Oboghoro, like those of more than several Itsekiris who inhabit their rural and riverine communities, deserve all the adornments of a reasonably good, healthy life to which at best they have meagre (or even less than meagre) access. This was one long thought that entered my mind and stayed there for a pleasantly long time after I persuaded myself to cruise there before the Christmas that has just passed. As a matter of fact, time after time, the details of the wealth of Oboghoro-land are encouraging and nourishing to the loyal joy of every true Itsekiri patriot – even though in the distant past what there is now in Oboghoro was not what there was there.

Where is Oboghoro? It is an important Itsekiri Royal Community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. It can only be reached through the sea and rivers in the Kingdom of Warri. Itsekiri history has it that the town was founded by Crown Prince Ijala at about 1740 AD at the heels of moral disapprobation – which envy and jealousy engendered. This very tiny bit of its coming into being – or of what led to the founding of the town after Prince Ijala departed Ale-Iwere for the reason already stated should satisfy the curiosity of those who are knowing or hearing about Oboghoro for the first time.

Geographically speaking, Oboghoro is located as an island in the egregious sea which inhabits the vast majority of Itsekiris, the denizens of the magnificently wealthy Kingdom of Warri. But as egregious as the sea has been from timeless time, the Itsekiri people, universally acknowledged as a people, an ethnic minority of quintessential intelligence, have very successfully learnt how to still the sea (and rivers) and tame their marshy land to their advantage. With respect to Oboghoro of Ijala in particular I am not hesitating to quote with pleasurable pleasure for this column’s teeming readers the following truthful and factual historical and geographical remark of acute commercial and economic significance: “The historical truism that Oboghoro was the emporium and commercial gateway to the Benin River was evidenced by the presence, in the days of yore, of companies like Harris & Co, Douglas Stewart, Millers Brothers, James Pinnock & Messrs Horsfall. In the course of the development of the New Face of Oboghoro, Mass of Coins, which were the currencies used in legal tenders in the pre- and post-colonial eras were unearthed at the Oboghoro River bank, where the merchants were berthing their boats,…”

Of course, things have since changed for the people of Oboghoro and descendants of Ijala. But they are determined, very determined, that their very rich and wealthy land of rich riches and wealthy wealth must regain all that they have seemingly lost to the vagaries of Nigerian political independence that brought to the fore over the years the wrong species who to all intents and purposes are not – and cannot be – stars of the people and of their respective communities.

Ceaselessly, I was regaled with positive stories of some Oboghoro people, and the general “Ijala descendants who intersperse several communities spanning across Warri north, Ethiope west, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State, the Ikara of Edo State, as well as Ondo State” who by a variety of means are loyally and patriotically committed to tilting the moral economy of the land at the favour of all. The destiny of Oboghoro of the modern time is the destiny that should follow the shape of Dubai. “That must be the new vision.” I recall vividly an indigene of Oboghoro telling me this sometime in August of our rotten 2024 – well before the thought of visiting the popular Itsekiri town visited me. But different feelings of antagonism welled from different places of my portion as a human being and a Prince of Warri: can Dubai visit Oboghoro from the United Arab Emirates? Will powerful elites from within and outside our land, and from within and outside our Niger Delta territory out of envy and jealousy allow this to happen? Will the parvenu personalities and personages about town not feel threatened and encourage and nourish and nurse “skepticism about the legitimacy of personalities” that would push them aside?

On Thursday, 19 December, 2024 when I boarded the speedboat in the company of my usher/conductor mandated by my chief host at Oboghoro to bring me there unfailingly, the above sensations glaringly articulated themselves in me. Our cruise started from Sapele in the bright cool morning. When my usher conducting me to Oboghoro wanted to know what was going on in my mind, I simply answered that we were not cruising in Tinubu-like yacht! My conductor, a very intelligent and seasoned Barrister-at-Law, replied me with a healthy guffaw! Some of the other persons who were in our speedboat shared my sentiment jocularly, but seriously when they were in the know of what transpired between us. I went further: why did the president not grant Warri Kingdom (and the Niger Delta including Ilaje-land) the privilege to utilize the stupendous amount of money gotten from us to develop our land? Or is the money not ours? And must we as a minority people continue to languish in pain and penury because we don’t have the power and privilege that the majority groups who have the power and privilege have? Must we continue to suffer in this country that is wickedly skewed against us, and that is divided between the haves and the have-nots who are the natural and providential owners of their natural wealth? And what does Tinubu really need a yacht for? We deserve more – we the less given owners of our natural wealth.

As we cruised to Oboghoro I could see in the expansively expansive mass of water and the green vegetation all about us the true meaning of being a riverine or water people. The longitude and latitude of the mass of water rendered me speechlessly speech-less. For well over several decades I have been an absentee waterman, an absentee riverine denizen – not any longer beginning from Thursday, 19 December, I promised – and still promise.

We arrived at Oboghoro before Atuwatse 111, CFR, whose visit climaxed and terminated the end of the activities that the Oboghoro community partook in for three months continuously at Atuwatse 111’s palace in Warri. The Warri ceremony was GHIGHO AGHOFEN (“which is a ceremonial watch-keeping of the Olu’s palace by communities within” the domain of Atuwatse 111, whose vision for Itsekiris and Warri Kingdom is the vision of visions).

I don’t wish to dwell extensively on the events at Oboghoro on the said 19 December (and other days up to 24 December) for strategic reasons which the columnist is chest-keeping. After the series of cultural dances by different ethnic groups that graced the occasion in the spirit of harmony, I went on physical communion with Oboghoro the Dubai of Itsekiris in the making. Our host-in-chief, Dr. Godwin Ebosa, a man I perceive, rightly or wrongly, as one person and personage of few words born to stardom but prefers to be effaceable, was in his element of elements. He clearly is on a very firm ground in Oboghoro where he and his team patriotically conceive for the town its current picture and what it is going to be in the future that is the future.

The personalities and personages from different walks of life that were guests at Oboghoro were personalities and personages indeed, but I must skip their names and identities – minus Chief Brown Mene who gave us the Olu’s words that marked the greatly forward-looking monarch of monarchs’ super Royal attributes. My boyhood chum, the ever-radiant Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and his elder sister Chief Yemi were equally present as a son and daughter respectively of Oboghoro. It was something that was more than something for us to meet and see again after centuries!

I left Oboghoro “the Dubai of Itsekiris” in high spirits and with fond memories. I shall return.

Afejuku can be reached via 08055213059.

By Leo Igwe

A recent case where a Catholic priest shot and killed a member of his parish in Imo State in southern Nigeria has occasioned a crisis of faith. The incident has compelled people, believers, and non-believers to raise fundamental questions about the conduct of clerics, and faith in divine protection. As was reported, this Catholic priest shot and killed a church member on December 31, 2024. The church member allegedly threw a knockout or banger at him during an end-of-the-year activity, and in return, the priest shot and killed him. The police are investigating the matter, and the Catholic priest is currently in custody.

Some people said the action of the priest was  not intentional, that he shot the guy in self-defense. That he did not know that what the guy threw at him was a knockout.

Others said it was an accidental discharge. Whatever the case, whether the shooting was deliberate or not, the fact is that this priest shot and killed his church member. And people are asking many questions. People are trying to make sense of this tragic event. A key question in the minds of many people is this: What is a Catholic priest doing with a gun in a church? Think about it. This is a valid question. What was this guy doing with a gun in a house of god? Some are wondering: Does it mean that the priest does not believe in divine protection?

The Catholic church will have to confront these questions for the foreseeable future because this incident highlights some crises, contradictions, and hypocrisies. The killing has caused many to be confused and conflicted in their faith. Look, many people go to church to seek divine protection because they believe that there is a god and that god, not guns would protect them. Priests claim to embody and dispense divine power and protection. Priests, like this cleric who shot his parishioner, are paid to pray and deliver divine protection to the people. The political economy of clerics is largely based on ensuring and trading divine protection. Now, in this case, this priest used the money he got from praying for divine protection to purchase a gun to protect himself. Is that not a contradiction? Is that not deceitful?

Clearly, this priest had more faith in his gun than in god. He does not believe in divine protection of either himself or of others hence he bought a gun to protect himself.

Meanwhile, he profits and professionally thrives on selling faith in god and divine protection to the people. His main business is preaching to people most of them have no guns or cannot afford a firearm that god would protect them.

What priests and other clerics preach and practice do not add up; they do not align. Clerics make their members and followers believe that there is a god who protects them and that they, the clerics, represent that god. They make people trust god or rely on god, not on worldly guns for protection. Clerics make people pay or provide for them in exchange for prayers and assurances of divine protection, which as this case shows they do not believe in. This hypocrisy is not peculiar to the Catholic church or Catholic priests. The contradiction is religion-wide. Prominent religious leaders move around with gun-tottling police officers and soldiers. Armed personnel guard many churches, mosques, and other so-called houses of god.

So the message is clear. It is either there is no god to protect anyone as atheists popularly believe or such a god is too weak and impotent, such a god is so ungodly to effectively guard his houses or protect his people, and estate.

Igwe, PhD , is an ex- Catholic seminarian from Imo State.