By Iorwuese Tyopev, PhD

Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, is, in my experience, a transformational leader, and I can personally testify to this from years of direct engagement with him.

Although I initially knew him only casually as an elder brother from Ushongo, our relationship deepened when I approached him to patronise the business I managed as a hotel manager in Abuja. From that point, Siman Suites in Garki became his preferred accommodation whenever he was in the Federal Capital Territory.

Each time he was travelling to Abuja, his usual call would come: “Tyopev, my brother, please keep a room for me, I’m on my way.”

A defining moment in 2006

One of the most memorable moments in our relationship came in 2006 when he was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). For his swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court, he booked almost the entire hotel for family, friends, and well-wishers who travelled from far and near to celebrate with him.

Beyond the business value, his consistent patronage strengthened my professional standing at the time and positively influenced my performance evaluation at work.

Continued relationship in public service

Our relationship continued after his appointment as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in July 2007 under the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Coincidentally, around the same period, my late boss, Senator J.I. Akaagerger, was elected into office and invited me to serve as his Senior Legislative Aide at the National Assembly. Chief Aondoakaa also expressed interest in bringing me into the Ministry of Justice as an aide. Although I chose to remain with my principal at the National Assembly, he respected my decision and maintained a cordial, brotherly relationship with me.

Prison decongestion intervention

Shortly after assuming office as Minister, he launched a prison decongestion initiative. In September 2007, I submitted an application requesting allocation of prison decongestion cases. He immediately asked whether I had legal representation, and upon confirmation, he promptly assigned several cases to me.

That support continued throughout his tenure until 2010.

Career support and mentorship

By mid-2008, I expressed dissatisfaction with my role at the National Assembly. He advised patience and assured me of better opportunities.

True to his word, in January 2009, he informed me of an opportunity with Dr Paul Orhii, then Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who agreed to engage me as Special Assistant.

Although I resumed duty, I was later informed—within 30 days—that my services were no longer required due to a change in preference. Chief Aondoakaa was abroad at the time, but upon his return, he reassured me, saying: “Don’t worry, another opportunity will come.”

New opportunity at NAPTIP

Shortly after, I was invited to his residence in Apo, where I met Barr. Simon Chuzi Egede, MON, who had just been appointed Executive Secretary of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

There, I was informed that I would serve as Special Assistant to the new Executive Secretary.

In a remarkable turn of events, I received my appointment letter the next day as Special Assistant at Grade Level 16 Step 5, along with an official vehicle and chauffeur. I was also integrated into top management committees and exposed to both national and international engagements.

End of an era and lasting gratitude

Following the death of President Yar’Adua in 2010 and subsequent political changes, Chief Aondoakaa left office as Minister, which also affected my position at NAPTIP due to its political nature.

Looking back, I remain deeply grateful to Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, for his loyalty, mentorship, and willingness to uplift others.

Some leaders inspire with words; others transform lives through action. Chief Aondoakaa, in my experience, belongs firmly to the latter category.

NB: This is Part 1 of a series of reflections on my personal experience with MKA, highlighting his mentorship and support to those around him, shared in anticipation of his birthday on June 12.

By Ibrahim Muhammad.

Experience and records over the years have shown that between 80 and 90 per cent of the challenges that place Hajj administrators, especially the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and private Hajj operators, under the weight of negative spotlight usually originate from issues surrounding tent allocation to VIP pilgrims during the Tashreek days in Mina.

The premium camp facilities, popularly known as Tent A and Tent A Plus, are reserved for pilgrims who pay for high-end Hajj packages priced in US dollars, while pilgrims from state Muslim pilgrims welfare boards are mostly accommodated under the Tent D category.

The challenge of space management in Mina is a global issue arising from the limited size of the valley compared to the huge number of pilgrims occupying the same space during Hajj.

However, there are three major loopholes that make the annual challenge more troubling. These include the insincerity of service providers regarding the actual space secured for their clients, the tendency of some tour operators to market packages they do not have, and the growing quest for luxury in a place historically associated with sacrifice and hardship.

In 2016, a research project using the Mina Tent Distribution Algorithm (MTDA) was conducted to improve the utilisation of available accommodation space in Mina. The MTDA employed seven functions to determine the best-fit accommodation for pilgrims within the available tents.

Experimental results showed that the system outperformed eight other allocation models by successfully accommodating 80 per cent of pilgrims within 76.2 per cent of the available space in Mina. Yet, even the best experimental result did not guarantee accommodation for all pilgrims within the tent facilities.

Mina covers an area of approximately 7.82 square kilometres, with only about 61 per cent of the landmass effectively utilised due to the rocky and hilly terrain. Tent sizes vary between 8 square metres, 6 by 8 metres, and 12 by 8 metres.

Over the last 15 years, the issue of how many pilgrims Mina can comfortably accommodate has remained a recurring pre-Hajj concern among participating countries.

Before the introduction of additional service lanes and support infrastructure, the tent city was originally designed to host about 850,000 pilgrims, with each pilgrim expected to have a sleeping space within Mina.

However, the construction of support facilities such as the Al Mashaaer Railway, medical centres, security posts, ministry offices, emergency response centres, and fire service stations has significantly reduced available accommodation space.

These facilities now consume nearly 20 per cent of the original capacity projections.

In reality, Mina can no longer comfortably host 800,000 pilgrims, talk less of the over 1.2 million pilgrims expected for this year’s Hajj. Another factor contributing to the space crisis is the introduction of mattresses inside tents.

Unlike previous years when pilgrims slept on rugs, mattresses now occupy additional space and further compress accommodation capacity.

This year, there have already been complaints from many of the top Hajj-participating countries over inadequate tent space allocation for their pilgrims in Mina.

Anticipating possible shortages, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj had in previous years directed many pilgrims, especially those from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, to proceed directly from their hotels in Makkah to Arafat, thereby skipping the first day in Mina to ease congestion.

Although Kidana Development Company added 79 two-storey accommodation complexes with 7,838 restrooms after earlier expanding existing facilities with 18 additional complexes, the challenge persists because the structures themselves occupy substantial portions of land.

Therefore, the issue of securing comfortable accommodation in Mina within the current global Hajj allocation of about 2.3 million pilgrims will continue to remain a major challenge for Saudi authorities and Hajj-participating countries.

This year may not be different. There are indications that some private Hajj operators failed to secure Tent A spaces for their clients but still marketed their packages as Tent A services, whereas the actual bookings were made under Tent B or Tent C categories.

Any Nigerian elite who pays $15,000 or more for Tent A services and eventually discovers that he has been placed elsewhere may trigger serious outrage in Mina over the perceived deception.

However, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj’s implementation of “No NUSUK No Hajj” helped to free up more space in Tent D for State pilgrims last year.

The influx of unauthorized pilgrims into Tent D was drastically decreased, but Tent A was an exception.

Governors, senators, highly influential politicians, and their family members are among the regular subscribers to Tent A packages.

Any disappointment involving this category of pilgrims will certainly attract public attention and widespread criticism.

Way Forward NAHCON, as the apex Hajj regulatory body in Nigeria, should establish a special committee to work closely with private tour operators in verifying the exact category of tents secured for VIP pilgrims before movement to Mina.

Such a committee should engage directly with the service providers handling Masha’ir services to confirm the actual allocation granted to each pilgrim.

Private tour operators found to have downgraded pilgrims from the agreed tent category should be compelled to notify affected clients before the Hajj rites commence, issue appropriate apologies, and arrange refunds where necessary.

Pilgrims who pay premium fees deserve transparency, accountability, and the exact services promised to them.

Mohammed is the National Coordinator Independent Hajj Reporters From Makkah

By Joseph Tegbe, Abuja

When President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing alongside America’s most powerful business executives, the world was reminded that economic interdependence remains one of the most powerful forces in international relations. Beneath the trade and investment agenda, however, ran a question China has never left unanswered, the One-China Principle, and Beijing’s absolute, unwavering commitment to it.

For China, this is a matter of sovereign certainty. The People’s Republic of China is the world’s only legitimate Chinese government, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory. This is not a position Beijing has hedged or softened across decades of shifting global politics. It is the bedrock on which China conducts its diplomacy and evaluates the reliability of its partners. China’s consistency on this question reflects not inflexibility, but the depth of a national conviction rooted in history, sovereignty and the long arc of Chinese civilisation, and for nations that share these values, China has proven to be a committed and consequential partner.

Nigeria is one such nation. Since establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1971, Nigeria has maintained a clear, principled and unbroken adherence to the One-China Principle. This position flows directly from Nigeria’s own foreign policy tradition, grounded in respect for sovereignty, principle of non-interference and the belief that nations must be free to determine their own paths. Nigeria and China share a philosophical foundation that gives their relationship a depth that goes well beyond transactional interest.

That shared foundation received its most authoritative expression when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu met President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2024. The joint statement was unequivocal: Nigeria affirmed adherence to the One-China Principle, recognised the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal authority representing the whole of China, regarded Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and expressed full support for China’s pursuit of national reunification. These were not words of diplomatic courtesy. They were the deliberate reaffirmation of a partnership grounded in mutual respect and long-term strategic alignment.

Nigeria’s legislature has reinforced this position with equal clarity. Recently, the Hon Jafar Yakubu, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on China-Nigeria Parliamentary Relations recently confirmed that Nigeria’s stance is clear, consistent and firmly rooted in international law and bilateral agreements. Nigeria’s commitment to the One-China Principle is not the policy of one administration. It is a settled, cross-institutional expression of national conviction.

This consistency is a strategic asset, one that Nigeria deploys with purpose through the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership. Five decades of diplomatic reliability have built a genuine reservoir of political trust with Beijing. The NCSP’s mandate is to translate that trust into a new and more productive phase of economic cooperation: manufacturing investment, technology transfer, industrial development and export-oriented production that reflects Nigeria’s true scale and potential as Africa’s largest economy.

China has already contributed meaningfully to Nigeria’s railway corridors, port infrastructure, energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks and industrial capacity. However, the relationship can and must deliver more. Nigeria’s digital economy, solid minerals sector, agro-processing capacity and consumer market all represent areas of deep mutual interest. With a transparent, results-oriented framework aligned with Nigeria’s national development priorities, the NCSP can move the partnership decisively from infrastructure financing toward genuine industrialisation.

NCSP continues to strengthen bilateral collaboration with China across trade, investment, technology transfer, infrastructure and capacity building, with a clear mandate to deliver measurable, tangible value to Nigeria’s economy.

Joseph Tegbe is the Director-General of Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership