I have profound respect for fighters who confront power with facts, not empty rhetoric. In today’s Nigeria, that alone is a radical act.
Aliko Dangote has once again earned public respect by taking on, openly and courageously, the entrenched interests that have held Nigeria’s oil and gas industry hostage for decades. This is not a personal feud; it is a confrontation with a system designed to enrich a few while impoverishing the many. Our commonwealth has been systematically diverted to serve a cabal, leaving the nation trapped in artificial scarcity and avoidable poverty.
It is against this backdrop that the House of Representatives’ call for a “ceasefire” becomes not just laughable but offensive. A ceasefire between whom and whom? Between the truth and the beneficiaries of a rigged system? Many within the political class are not neutral arbiters; they are active stakeholders in the rot. Their sudden appetite for peace is less about national interest and more about protecting familiar pipelines of privilege.
Nigeria does not need symbolic outrage or performative hearings. It needs courage. It needs millions of Dangotes in public life — citizens and institutions willing to challenge corruption even when it wears expensive suits and legislative badges.
Our anti-corruption agencies and the judiciary must wake up from this institutional lethargy. What is unfolding is not merely an allegation of regulatory failure; it is a window into the deeper collapse of accountability that has paralysed our collective conscience and stalled national development for generations.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Engr Farouk Ahmed has been publicly called out. The burden is now on him to present a clear, factual, and transparent defence against these grave allegations. Silence, evasion, or political cover will only deepen public suspicion.
The President must not allow this moment to be smothered under bureaucratic maneuvers or elite consensus. History will not judge kindly any leadership that chooses convenience over justice.
Nigeria is at a familiar crossroads: protect the cabal or protect the country. There is no neutral ground.
Adefemiwa, a public communicator and advocate for good governance, is based in New York, United States and can be reached on jerome.adefemiwa@gmail.com
