22-5-2025.

It is no news that the staff of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) have embarked on an indefinite strike action to protest the non payment of the 100 months of unpaid pension by the company to the federal government electricity authorities despite having the fuss to settle most of the bill.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government led by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears not to care about the development, as it goes ahead with its plan to divide the Northern part of the country. Even as the strike action, which threw the states of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa in further DARKNESS, the Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, was in Jos, Plateau state, where he launched the state’s headquarters for Youth Empowerment.

It appears that what concerns Tinubu is the vote of Northerners in the 2027 presidential election, but not their security. Otherwise the launching of the Jos occasion was ill timed, given that it coincided with the beginning of the strike action; a development that should have been of great concern to serious minded, and people-oriented administration.

President Tinubu appears to use all available opportunities to eliminate Islam from the Nigerian shores. One woman, referred to as the leader of the Hausas, urged Hausa Muslims to stop saying ‘Assalamu alaikum’ by way of greeting, and instead revert to, ‘Gafara dai’, the greeting of the irreligious in the pre Islamic era in the Hausa land.

The hands of his wife, the First Lady, those of his son, the First Son, those of his girlfriends, and those of his Western World masters could be seen in those ungodly behaviours. All of them are not believers of the Islamic faith, and will therefore do anything within their power to see no more of it in Nigeria.

I once wrote in favour of KEDCO urging the people to sympathise with the company. In the article written on 15-11-2025, named: “KEDCO Wants Our Support And Encouragement, Not Our Condemnation.

In it, I stated that “After writing many articles condemning the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), its apparent lacklustre performance and its staff, it must come to my readers as somewhat of a surprise that today I have changed my tone to urging for our collective support and encouragement to the company. 

“The reason is that KEDCO is trying its very best for its customers to mitigate the (deliberate?) unending failure of the National Grid, which appears to be affecting most parts of the Northern part of the country, thereby becoming a constant source of DARKNESS and collapse of many industries in the region. 

“In a recent press statement, the company announced that it had secured a loan of $100 (US) to make electricity available 24 hours per day for its customers in its area of operation in the States of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa. The company therefore, desires, wants and expects support from all of us, including, but not limited to the regular payment of monthly bills by its customers, corporates and individuals. 

“KEDCO announced in the statement that it was pleased to announce a partnership and initial investment of about $100 million to develop a 100MW ‘safe grid’ for Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states, to provide 24 hours electricity supply to key industries, commercial hubs, and critical government infrastructure, eliminating reliance on the national grid”. 

“The company added that the “Project will build the first 20MW power plant (of the 100MW) with Utilita under an Emergency Project valued at $20 million that will be operational by the end of the year to begin supply for the ‘safe grid’. The Generation units are already available and KEDCO is accelerating project development ahead of installation and commissioning in the Tamburawa area”.

That was towards the end of last year, and the electricity distribution company’s promise NEVER came to pass, anyway. Despite the billions they have already amassed, the owners of KEDCO still want more money to die with. It beats the imagination what people like Alhaji Aminu Dantata, part owner of the company, want to do with more money at the age of 90+.

As the users of the product (DARKNESS) KEDCO regularly supplies us, we support the striking staff, and urge them not allow anyone to dissuade them from the strike action without payment of a substantial backlog of the unpaid pension, or a strong commitment to do so very soon.

The Emir of Katsina, Alhaji (Dr.) AbdulMumin Kabir Usman was shown in a trending video clip complaining of insecurity in the North West. He was bitterly disappointed that he had to have escorts to travel to and back from Kaduna, a journey that he needed no more than his entourage to make in the past. But, according to him, he has to have armed escort to undertake in the present because of the dire insecurity in the area, where even the life of a first class emir is not safe from being killed by the bandits.

The Katsina emir knew what he was talking about, when he added that “we have the money to handle that”. Perhaps those who are in the custody of the money have other things in mind, far more important than the security of the lives and property of the citizens of the area.

Another emotion-drawing video clip shows some pathetic housewives in Faskari town crying and pleading with President Tinubu to intervene in the chronic insecurity situation in the are. They complained that nobody was safe either in the farm nor at home, with the bandits having their say and way all the time. The moment I watched the pathetic scene, it downed on me that it was simply a matter of time before God come to the rescue of the situation.

Another article I yet wrote on the issue of insecurity late last year is: ‘Light Is Also Security’, in which yours sincerely noted that, “The Kankara, in Katsina state, attack and abduction of some students were carried out in the night. If however, there was sufficient light to light up everywhere in the school, the bandits could not have had their way as they could be detected long before they were able to strike.

“The roads leading to the bandits’ hideouts in the vast expanse of the forest they live were not lit completely, and they ‘vanish’ in it within short moments without a trace. They might attack in Katsina and before the activity is fully grasped by the people around, they would be in Zamfara state or any other state within the region. 

“The leaders may or may not be asleep, but they are very secure in the Villa and various fortified government houses the governors call home. And apart from the 24-hour human security they and their immediate families receive, there are also all manner of electronic gadgetry, such as close circuit television (cctv), to keep them doubly secured. 

“The other leading politicians across all the political parties are also enjoying protection from the Commonwealth. Even if some of the politicians (especially those in the National Assembly (NASS) are not in the position to enjoy protection from the government, the out-of-this-world salary they receive monthly and other benefits are enough to keep them secure from the insecurity that is a debilitating problem in the country, especially the north western and the north eastern parts of Nigeria. 

“Above all, there is the suspicion that the banditry is fuelled by the abundant mineral wealth that the north west is so blessed with and that the ‘big’ people were not only involved in it’s illegal mining, but provide ‘security’ for the bandits, so as to keep attention away from these (illegal) activities. The mineral wealth hidden beneath the soils of the north west include, but not limited to, gold, diamond, lithium, cobalt, manganese, aluminium and iron. 

“A gold consignment worth eight billion naira allegedly belonging to a former governor in the north west was said to be stopped in Ghana sometime last year. The poor or ordinary Nigerians can not claim to have the luxury of peace, even though it is supposed to be a cardinal duty of the government to ensure that every citizen of the land is free from fear of insecurity, among other things. On this score, there is no gain saying that the government has failed to deliver, since it does not guarantee the security of every citizen but only to the ‘high and mighty’ in the society.”

The pension scheme was introduced by then President Olusegun Obasanjo around 2003 to, OBVIOUSLY, enrich the rich, and pauperise the poor in Nigeria. Not one to miss an opportunity NOW to put pen on paper on any issue that I feel very strong about, I once wrote an article on 13-1-2025 titled: ‘Pension Scheme Or Pension Scam?, in which I stated that, “about 13 years ago, a colleague and a close friend at one of the leading newspapers in the country, went to his pension providers to take his money to enable him send some of it to his aging parents in the village. 

“He was told he would only be given half of the money, and the rest would be given to him in bits as monthly pension. But he was told that even the half would only be given to him when he clocked the age of sixty. He resined from the newspaper, as he did his preceding lecturing job at the University of Benin, Edo state, where he taught Philosophy, to go to a greener pasture, so as to be able to take good care of his parents. 

“After one year of clocking his 60th birthday, he went to the his pension providers, expecting to get the money, but it was not be as they kept on the usual ‘go and come back on . . .’. Being someone from a part of the country where money is not a joking matter, my friend showed to them the kind of stuff he was made of, and they gave him half of his forced savings before he made the ‘scene’ he promised to make, if he did not get half of the money he was promised the last time he was there.

“He had lectured Philosophy at university level, meaning he was a person who knew what he was doing. The colleague and friend, had also worked as a journalist in a very influential newspaper, which meant he could cause a bad publicity for them. Bad publicity was, and still is, the last thing such ‘scammy’ organisations require. 

“The ordeals suffered by the latter friend made me hesitant about going to ask for my involuntary contribution to my pension, administered by PREMIUM PENSION FUND. The organisation is always quick to send me closed seasonal and birthday greetings text messages that cannot be replied to. They therefore, remained incommunicado, even though I desperately want the money NOW.

“My conclusion and many others’s is that, the pension scheme was introduced to scam many hapless and helpless citizens who have retired, of their hard retirement money to further massively enrich the already very rich. With the endemic CORRUPTION that President Tinubu has prioritised, which Nigerians are regularly updated with on the internet and the world media, it is now almost impossible for the common pensioner to get their money from their pension fraudsters, who go by the nomenclature of ‘Pension Operators’ in the country”.

In case they have forgotten, these CORRUPT leaders need to be reminded that there first have to be the people for rulers to rule, before they can be in the position to STEAL from the Commonwealth. I have once given such an advice in one of my interventions sometimes last year.

May God hasten to retrieve power from the hands of those who acquired it only for the purpose of enriching themselves, and dividing the nation, not minding the repercussion of their action.

Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.