It was a gathering of intellectuals as expected and a reflection of the importance of economics to everyday life at the Dr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike Senate Building of Rivers State University on Wednesday, 24th September 2025, as Professor Sancho Nwobuisi Chukwu, a professor of Monetary Economics and International Finance, took the podium to deliver his much-anticipated inaugural lecture titled, “Dynamics of Ehianomics Economy, the Losses, and the Nigerian Experience.”

Professor Sancho began by drawing attention to the economic realities faced by Nigerians, realities rooted in conflicts such as civil war, insurgency, political instability, marginalization, and corruption. These conditions, he explained, gave rise to the concept of Ehianomics.

Ehianomics, he noted, is an economic paradigm that interprets survival and adaptability rather than relying solely on conventional indicators such as GDP growth, foreign reserves, or stock market performance. It is an economy shaped by adversity and adaptive resilience.

The term reflects how individuals, households, and communities in Nigeria have unknowingly built shock absorbers that keep them from collapse. They find alternatives to stay on their feet, sourcing new resource flows and devising strategies to withstand repeated disruptions. Farmers, for instance, may shift from imported crops to local sourcing or adopt new crops in response to insecurity.

Communities, he explained, develop survival mechanisms with little or no state support. These include informal trade, cooperative labour, shared community risks, migration (popularly called japa) as an economic response, subsistence enterprises, and indigenous credit systems.

Ehianomics, therefore, offers a bottom-up reinterpretation of economic agency — shaped not by abstract models but by lived experiences, forged in struggle, and expressed in the quiet determination of market women, displaced youth, and informal innovators who refuse to surrender their economic agency.

Drawing on metaphors, Professor Sancho likened the Nigerian economy to a palm tree — once tall and full of potential, signifying a healthy nation with systemic stability and sustained growth. But like the palm tree gradually eaten away by the weaver bird, Nigeria’s economy has been disrupted by colonialism, civil war, oil dependency, military coups, and neoliberal reforms.

Yet, amid the ruins, he emphasized the possibility of regeneration and regrowth. Just as ecosystems heal after disruption, economies too can recover. Nigeria, he said, must reconstruct itself by finding new growth paths, redefining productivity patterns, and reshaping power dynamics. Much of this regeneration is already visible in informal systems of trade and survival.

These losses, however, did not affect all groups equally. Political elites, contractors, security firms, urban elites, diaspora returnees, multinational corporations, NGOs, development professionals, digital entrepreneurs, and tech startups often benefited from turbulence. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens bore the brunt: unemployment deepened, farmers and traders abandoned fields, food shortages, and inflation spread, and future generations were denied quality education, nutrition, and healthcare. Against this backdrop, the professor posed a stark question:

“Who are the winners, and who are the losers?”

As part of his recommendations, Professor Sancho urged Nigeria to secure the foundations of growth through conflict prevention and resolution, move beyond oil by building a resilient economic paradigm, develop stronger social safety nets to protect the vulnerable, and promote inclusive policies that shift the nation from elite capture to shared prosperity.

“Just as the palm withstands storms by bending, shedding, and regrowing, so too must Nigeria evolve from reactive crisis management to proactive, regenerative economic planning,” he said.

“By creating generation, not repetition, Nigeria can convert this history of vulnerability into our future of structural resilience and inclusive prosperity, ensuring that what is passed down is not just survival but a renewed economic legacy anchored in dignity and shared growth.”

He did not mince words about the dangers of corruption, declaring:

“Until we separate looters from working Nigerians, the next generation of youths will think that looting and stealing is a career.”

The lecture underscored that Ehianomics is more than an abstract theory. It is a mirror of Nigeria’s lived experience: a story of an economy shaped by fragile foundations, scarred by missteps, yet still capable of renewal.

Bringing the event to a close, the Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Professor Zeb Obipi, delivered the closing remark. He commended Professor Sancho for his scholarly contribution and urged the Nigerian government to engage with the lecture’s insights.

“If our leaders take these recommendations seriously, the dynamics of Ehianomics will be such that our people will not be struggling daily for survival,” he said.

His words of encouragement marked a fitting conclusion to a thought-provoking and impactful inaugural lecture.

Before joining the Rivers State University, Prof. Sancho Chukwu had served at the Federal University, Wukari, where he grew through the ranks to the top of his career.

Prof. Sancho Nwobuisi Chukwu is a specialist in monetary economics and international finance. He has, to his credit, several publications in local and foreign journals, and the proposed lecture promises to contextualize Nigeria’s economic challenges and also point the way for recovery and growth that is sustainable.

By Miracle Chidinma Amaechi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to immediately commence engagement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Ogoni communities, and other stakeholders, to finalise modalities for the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland after more than three decades of shutdown.

The President gave the order at the State House, Abuja, while receiving the report of the Presidential Committee on the Ogoni Consultations, chaired by former Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Don Baridam.

The delegation was led by Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

President Tinubu praised the committee for what he described as “dedication and wisdom” in guiding a delicate process, and urged the Ogoni people to embrace reconciliation and dialogue as the only path to justice and development.

“I commend the dialogue committee for the wisdom with which they guided this process. More importantly, let’s thank the Ogoni people for embracing dialogue and reconciliation as the surest path to justice and development,” the President said.

Acknowledging the decades of struggle, he added: “We are not as a government taking lightly the years of pain endured in Ogoniland. The Federal Government truly acknowledges the long suffering of the Ogoni people, and today we declare with conviction that hope is here and is back with us.”

President Tinubu mandated the NSA to convene immediate engagements between the Ogoni people, NNPCL, and other stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting oil production.

“We have to start now. Dead assets are not valuable to the community, the country and the people. The further we leave it and the longer we procrastinate, the greater the losses,” Tinubu said.

He also directed the Minister of Environment to work with the NSA to integrate environmental remediation and community programmes into a broader dialogue and implementation process.

“Environmental remediation will renew oil production, and we must ensure efficient functionality as an instrument of action,” he added.

Tinubu urged Ogoni leaders and communities to put aside divisions and move forward in unity.

“I urge Ogoni people across communities and generations to close ranks and put this dark chapter behind us. This reconciliation is not an erasure of history; it is the commitment to write the next chapter together. Government will deploy every resource to support the Ogoni people in its march towards shared prosperity,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a symbolic gesture, President Tinubu conferred posthumous national honours of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on nine Ogoni heroes who died in the struggle for environmental justice. They included Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Albert Bade, Chief Samuel Orage, and Chief Theophilus Orage.

He prayed that their memories “continue to inspire unity and purpose among Nigerians.”

Presenting the committee’s report, NSA Ribadu described the process as transformational, aimed at restoring hope and rebuilding trust after years of neglect and conflict.

He said an inter-agency taskforce, including NNPCL, ministries, and the Ogoni Dialogue Committee, would oversee implementation.

“Peace is already being restored, and Nigerians will soon see the benefits, not just in Ogoniland, but across the Niger Delta and beyond,” Ribadu said.

Governor Fubara, in his remarks, hailed the renewed seriousness of the Federal Government.

“Finally, there is every sign that this government is serious about resolving these issues, and I think we need to give them all the necessary opportunity and time to ensure this problem is resolved once and for all,” he said, pledging his full cooperation.

Committee chairman, Professor Don Baridam, said the report reflected the collective will of the Ogoni people, highlighting demands for structured participation in oil production, accelerated cleanup, and sustainable development.

He described the document as “a blueprint for the future.”

Prominent activist and former President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ledum Mitee, told journalists that the meeting signaled a “new dawn” for Ogoni.

“We are leaving here with hope that something practical is being done and that our matters have received a hearing at the highest level,” he said.

Mitee noted that progress had already begun, including targeted employment and plans for a University of Environmental Technology and an industrial park.

Former Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment and son of the late Edward Kobani, one of the Ogoni Four, Kenneth Kobani, was emotional.

“What the President has done today has shown that Nigeria can actually be a better place. No matter how long it takes, Ogoni and Nigeria as a whole are on the right path,” he said.

He thanked Tinubu and Ribadu for recognizing the sacrifices of his father and others.

Oil exploration in Ogoniland was suspended in 1993 following widespread protests against environmental degradation, leading to the tragic execution of writer-activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others in 1995 by the then-military regime—a watershed moment in Nigeria’s environmental and human rights history.