News
ADAMS OSHIOMOLE: The Labour Leader Died
By Babs Daramola
There are moments in a nation’s life when words shock more than bullets. Not because they are violent, but because they are absurd, disconnected and offensive to reality.
When Senator Adams Oshiomhole recently went on national television and declared that Nigerians are now complaining that food is becoming too cheap under President Bola Tinubu, the country did not just hear a statement; it witnessed a rupture in memory, history, and identity.
This was not said by a random politician, or by an out-of-touch technocrat. This was said by Adams Oshiomhole, the one we once knew as the fiery labour leader, street-fighter for the masses; the man who once stood toe-to-toe with power on behalf of the oppressed. And that is what makes it painful.
There was a time when Adams Oshiomhole’s name was synonymous with resistance, courage and labour struggle. He was the voice of the voiceless. He was the man who confronted government with data, with facts, with moral authority. He was a man who spoke the language of the streets because he came from the streets.
This was a man who understood hunger. Who understood inflation. Who understood the cost of survival. So when that same man now looks Nigerians in the face and says food is becoming too cheap, something deeper than politics has gone wrong.
It would be understandable, though still unforgivable, if our distinguished senator now suffers a selective amnesia where facts and data should live. So, let’s help his memory:
In 2022, on a minimum wage of ₦33,000, a Nigerian worker could buy three bags of rice, sometimes even four. Today, with ₦70,000, that same worker struggles to buy one bag of good rice.
In 2022, a full tank of fuel for some cars cost about ₦22,000. Today, an entire minimum wage can’t fill that same tank.A 350g box of cornflakes rose from around ₦600 to ₦3,500 in the same period, while a 900g loaf of bread moved from ₦600 to ₦2,000. A crate of eggs climbed from ₦600 to ₦6,000. These are just scattered samples from a marketplace drowning in inflation.
One then wonders how a man once defined by data and discipline now finds it so convenient to falsify reality on the altar of partisan exuberance, trading truth for loyalty, and conscience for convenience.
So when anyone, especially Adams Oshiomhole, says food is becoming too cheap in Nigeria, it is not just incorrect. It is insulting.
It is one thing to argue that prices may be stabilizing or slowing down compared to last year. It is another thing to claim that food is now cheap. But to say food is becoming too cheap borders on the ludicrous.
That narrative holds neither on the grounds of optimism nor on any known macroeconomic logic. It is pure fiction.People often think poverty destroys reasoning. But Nigerian politicians are daily proving to us that comfort, power and privilege can do the same.
They are letting us know that proximity to authority can breed psychophancy If a man likes Senator Adams Oshiomole can gleefully tell us that food is becoming too cheap under Tinubu’s administration, it only shows one thing: comfort can detach a person from reality; too much power can erase memory, and tha too much politics can rewrite conscience. And that is exactly what we are witnessing.Let’s just pause for a moment.
Imagine the Adams Oshiomhole of the labour movement era leading a union under the current Tinubu administration.
This country would not know peace. Power would not sleep. Policy would be pressured. That Oshiomhole would have shaken this system so badly the government would either be forced to give or go. But that man is gone. What remains is a politician.
Adams Oshiomhole has every right to defend his party. He has every right to defend his political benefactor. He has every right to defend government policies. That is democracy. That is freedom of speech. That is political alignment. But there is a line. And that line is insulting the intelligence and suffering of Nigerians. Defending policy is one thing; manufacturing fantasy is another.
But, honestly, here’s the truth: The real tragedy is not the statement. The tragedy is what it represents. How politics can change people. How power can rewrite identity. How comfort can erase compassion. How partisanship can silence conscience.
Even a deaf and dumb man on the street knows food is not by any means cheap in Nigeria, in relation to available means. The market woman knows it. The bus driver knows it. The mechanic knows it. The teacher knows it. The student knows it. The unemployed youth knows it. Nigeria knows it.
So when a man who once fought for the masses tells the masses that their suffering is imagination, the betrayal is not political; it is moral.
This is not the Adams Oshiomhole we knew. As Professor Wole Soyinka once implied in another context: The man died. True, the labour leader died. What remains is a politician who speaks not from the streets, but from the comfort of power.
And that, more than anything else, is the real tragedy.
Babs Daramola is a Lagos-based broadcast journalist
News
Enugu iron-smelting site Gets $125,000 US Grant
The U.S. Consul General, Brandon Hudspeth, noted that the Lejja Iron-Smelting Site tells a 4,000-year-old story of ingenuity, innovation and technological sophistication.
• Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah
The United States government is availing $125,000 grant for the presentation of the historic Lejja iron-smelting site in Enugu State.
This was disclosed in a statement by the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos , yesterday, emphasising that the fund will support the conservation, 3D digital documentation and physical preservation of the site, which dates to approximately 2000 BC.
The U.S. Consul General, Brandon Hudspeth, noted that the Lejja Iron-Smelting Site tells a 4,000-year-old story of ingenuity, innovation and technological sophistication.
The fund was provided through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) to the Centre for Memories in Enugu to support the digital documentation and physical preservation of the historic Lejja iron-smelting site in Enugu State.
According to the Consulate, the project will support the conservation, 3D digital documentation and physical preservation of the site, which dates to approximately 2000 BC.
The project’s implementation by the Centre for Memories, led by U.S. exchange alumnus, Iheanyi Igboko, reflects the enduring connections forged through the Cultural Heritage Forward program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of State and organised in partnership with the Smithsonian Institute .
News
FG Moves To Fix Benin-Asaba Federal Highway
The poor state of the road was linked to the Federal Government’s attempt to involve the private sector in road development through concession arrangements
• [File photo] David Umahi
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said he will visit the Benin-Asaba federal highway today in response to the widespread complaints, protests and severe gridlock caused by the deteriorating condition of the road.
Umahi disclosed this during the flag-off ceremony for the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road, according to a video shared on Monday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze.
The minister said that he would meet with independent engineers, the concessionaire handling the project and the state government to find a solution to the worsening situation.
“On Tuesday, we are off to Benin-Asaba. I want Nigerians to be assured that when we get there, we’ll solve that problem,” Umahi said.
He explained that the poor state of the road was linked to the Federal Government’s attempt to involve the private sector in road development through concession arrangements.
“It’s not caused by Ministry of Works; it’s caused by, you know, our attempt to involve private sector in road development, as it’s done in other places,” he said.
The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) will hold its 2026 All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Enugu, on September 24 and 25.
The flagship annual gathering is expected to attract more than 500 editors from across the country and distinguished guests to discuss critical national and global issues with social, economic and political implications. It comes ahead of the 2027 general election.
The theme is “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” with the sub-theme “When Lies Look Real: Detecting and Debunking AI Disinformation Before, During and After Election.” His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, will chair the conference.
Former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, will deliver the keynote address at the opening ceremony on September 24 from 2pm. Prof. Auwal Yadudu of the Faculty of Law, Bayero University, Kano, will speak on “Public Trust, Electoral Justice and Democratic Stability.” Enugu State Governor Dr. Peter Mbah will also address the conference.
Ombudsman and Public Protector of ThisDay Newspapers, Kayode Komolafe, and veteran journalist and civil rights campaigner Owei Lakemfa will jointly present on “Reporting Terrorism Without Becoming a Tool for Terrorists.”
On September 25, immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, will speak at 9am on “Election Petitions in the Digital Age: Independence, Evidence, BVAS and the Courts.” Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Paul University, Awka, Prof. Chinyere Okunna, will address “Neutrality, Professionalism and Election Security in Democratic Governance.” Founder and Chief Medical Director of Save A Life Hospital, Port Harcourt, Dr. Richard Okoye, will speak on “The Human Side of Journalism: Managing Stress, Deadlines and Personal Wellbeing.”
Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA, Prof. Farooq A. Kperogi, will examine the sub-theme on detecting and debunking AI disinformation around elections.
An Executive Session is scheduled for 12:30pm on the second day, during which editors will engage governors, political party leaders and heads of government agencies on issues of national importance.
According to a statement by NGE President Eze Anaba and General Secretary Onuoha Ukeh, the conference will provide a platform for editors and stakeholders to examine pathways for advancing democratic governance, promoting national development and strengthening nation-building through responsible journalism. It will also allow media leaders to interrogate challenges facing democracy and the media’s role in safeguarding credible elections, public trust and democratic values.
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