The two killer governors and their theatre of the absurd! by Kadiri Abdulrahman

    ( Transcript of alleged Phone conversation between Wike & Fayose)
Wike: Ayodele my son!
Fayose: You think I’m Nigerian Army member?
Wike: Nigerian Army does not exist again now!
Fayose: Ah, Wike, you tried!
Wike: (Laughter) Ha! Ha! Ha….!
Fayose: Everybody has been calling me! Wike,
you are the man! You faced the whole country’s military threat…
Wike: (Laughter)
Fayose: They were shooting when you went o..!

SGF, Magu saga: is corruption fighting back? by Akano Tirimisiy

President Muhammadu Buhari

   THE All Progressive Congress’s, APC, government of President Mohammadu Buhari was swept into power after last year’s presidential election on the mantra of Change. It brought to an end the People Democratic Party, PDP, controlled government that had been in power for sixteen years (1999 to 2015). Many are of the view that one of the reasons the electorate turned against the PDP government was the perceived high level of corruption. Despite the revelations of monumental corruption by political office holders, former president Goodluck Jonathan was believed to be reluctant in relieving and prosecuting those alleged to have engaged in cases of stealing. So, the ‘Change’ mantra of the APC resonated with many Nigerians. On the back of this election promise to tackle corruption, on assumption of office, President Buhari made it clear that it was not going to be business as usual for those who had made billions by

Nigeria’s unity: Atiku should tread softly by Mansir Lawal Kaware

Atiku Abubakar

By Mansir Lawal Kaware

“The Unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.” This position is what all patriotic Nigerians stand for, and it was in an effort to prove it, that Nigerian Civil War was fought in the late 1960’s.
If there are people who benefitted from the Unity of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar the former Vice President to Obasanjo is one of them. While Obasanjo fought the Civil War, T.Y Danjuma, Mamman Shuwa and Buhari among other military officers, Atku was not at the war front, but the result of the war which kept the country one gave him the opportunity to became a Senior Customs Officer in the country and

‘2016: Diary Of A Columnist (I)’ by Mohammed Adamu

(08035892325 sms only) dankande2@gmail.com

‘Biafra And The Sesesionist Right Of A Minority Revisited’
And although the American Constitution, as Abraham Lincoln posited “contained no prohibition of secession or enforcement language to preserve the Union”, it did –like all other democratic constitutions- specify an oath of office mandating the President “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”. And if so, what can be more deserving of the President’s ‘preservation’, ‘protection’ and ‘defense’ -in a constitutional democracy- than the territorial integrity of the State? And thus said experts that in the true interpretation of ‘sovereign power’, “since the people had not vested the President with the authority to fix the terms of separation”, Lincoln was right to make “war the inevitable consequence of secession” and to declare himself “constitutionally unable to stop it”. And as Lincoln himself eloquently said, whereas the secessionists had “no oath registered in heaven to destroy” the union, he as President had “the most solemn one to ‘preserve’, ‘protect’ and ‘defend it’.”
Lincoln said whenever “the people grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of

Ex-Gov Aliyu’s Loud Silence on Buhari by Israel A. Ebije

Former Niger State Gov. Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu

Politics is played well once rules of engagement are well laid out by gladiators. Smart politicians know when to celebrate, agitate for something and when to concede defeat. Calvin Coolidge was the 30th US president. He was known by the nickname “silent Cal”. His silence was remarkable but his achievement was impactful.
For those criticizing former Governor of Niger state, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu over silence on political happenings under President Muhammadu Buhari, They must school themselves on politics of tact. They must understand that it is better to maintain a thoughtful silence than to throw around early critical views, when there is enough time for government to goof abysmally or gush gracefully on campaign promises.
So many people feel the best way to be politically relevant is by critical attacks of incumbent administrations. In fact, a Nigerian politician in opposition often adorn the toga of a patriot, nationalist, even a comrade to recruit supporters. The subsequent tirades against serving governments are often gimmicks to either distract the government from staying focused or brainwash the masses from seeing clearly. After winning election, they show fangs instead of teeth.
It is true that the former governor of Niger state was vocal, fierce and fearless in his critical opinion against

Obama’s Middle East misadventure and the rise of radical Islam by Majeed Dahiru

The Obama administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East has contributed immensely to the rise of radical Islam and worldwide jihadist movements. His policy of appeasement and compromise, which is characterised by hesitation, indecision and contradiction, has only succeeded in further complicating the already complex situation of the predominantly restive Muslim Middle East region.

Historical Fault Lines
This historic region is fraught with deep fault lines along religious and racial divides. The root of the three leading monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is traceable to the region. These differences have often times found expression in economic and political struggle, with conflicts and wars as consequences. The region has witnessed bloodshed and

Events that define 2016 and us by Ayo Olukotun

The calendar with its division of time into neat compartments is somewhat artificial, too neatly mathematical to be anything more than symbolic short hands for denoting the passage of time and events. The high drama of political upsets in 2016 such as Brexit and Donald Trump’s election into the United States’ presidency, cannot be understood outside the broader ferment of right wing populism and the distrust of big government, long in gestation.
That said, it is also true that happenings in any particular year, even the little unnoticed ones, often hold the key to unveiling a dimension at least, of national character and predisposition, of

Issues As Buhari Orders Probe Of Lawal, Magu by Idowu Samuel

It is not in doubt that a good number of Nigerians are averse to corruption and other tendencies leeching unto it and would prefer to fight the incubus to stand still to save their country. Nigerians had demonstrated capacity to incinerate the menace two years ago when they stopped the past government headed by former President Goodluck Jonathan adjudged as corrupt from renewing its tenure.
Decay of infrastructure, widening influence of terrorism, gangsterism, armed robbery, prostitution, pipeline vandalism, unbridled stealing from the Nigeria’s commonwealth, flaunting of

The late king of my community by Nwani Stan

The late king of my community had ten wild dogs. He used them to torture and eat any of his servants who made a mistake. One of the servants gave an opinion which was wrong, and the king didn’t like it at all. So he ordered that the servant be thrown to the dogs.
The servant said, “I served you for ten years, and you do this to me? Please give me ten days before throwing me to those dogs!” The king agreed.
In those ten days, the

Graphical Representation of the Plateau State Budget, 2017

Summary of the Budget Presented by Plateau State Governor His Excellency Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Lalong

Graphical Representation of the Plateau State Budget.








Credit: https://wejosrockblog.wordpress.com/

Dear Umaru Musa Yar'Adua by Senator Dino Melaye

  HONOURABLE DINO MELAYE WROTE:
Dear Umaru Musa Yar'Adua,
 when you were around we called you: The BAD one. The SLOW ONE. The SICK ONE.
Yes, you were sick, in fact, sick all through your administration. We all cried for your resignation at the height of your sickness. Cursing you, your first lady and your supporters (The first set of Cabals).
Asking you to die if you want to die and allow the man with all the Goodluck in this world to lead us.
We forgot that even though you were sick, you were the first Governor to have ever declared his assets publicly and you remained the only President in the history of Nigeria to have ever declare his assets publicly.
We conveniently forgot that even though you were gravely sick you were the first president to ever reduced the price of petrol in Nigeria, (From N75 to N70 and later from N70 to N65) and the economy did not collapse like the present leaders are making us believe. You even reversed the sale of our refineries.
We forgot that you didn't afflict yourself with your sickness and so could do very little about it. But we still insisted that you just have to go, so that Nigeria can finally have her chance with Goodluck.
We forgot that even though you were terminally ill, you still succeeded in solving the Niger Delta crisis which you didn't cause, but you found a solution. And even crushed d first Boko Haram uprising and caught its leader.
You gave us rule of Law, Ameachi reclaimed his mandate as Rivers governor, Andy Uba lost in court and

EMERGING AFRICAN DESPOTS by Lawal Sale

   EMERGING AFRICAN DESPOTS: While some African leaders follow the path of true democracy by relinquishing power when their time is up, others with violent and dictatorial tendencies chose to find excuses to stay beyond what their constitutions stipulates. Though it is not a new thing to "sit tight" in power in Africa as seen with Museveni of Uganda, Al-Bashir of Sudan, Dos Santos of Angola, Biya of Cameroon and Pa Mugabe of Zimbabwe; these leaders have in one way or the other violated the laws of their lands to illegally continue to stay in power against the will of majority of their citizens. Today, however, we are faced with a new set of "kids on the block" - the likes of Nkurunziza of Burundi, Kabila of Congo, Jammeh of The Gambia and

AMBODE, BAGUDU LAUNCH LAKE RICE IN LAGOS by Zara Gift Onyinye

... 50kg Bag For N12,000; 25kg For N6,000; 10kg For N2,500
…This Is A Historic Moment For Lagos, Kebbi, Says Lagos Gov
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and his Kebbi State counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu on Wednesday launched the much anticipated Lagos-Kebbi Rice christened LAKE RICE, saying that the partnership which culminated into the launch was not only designed to ensure food security but showcase the ability of Nigeria to become a producing nation.
Speaking at the launching ceremony held at Lagos House in Ikeja, Governor Ambode said the development was a great and historic moment for both states and Nigeria, as

MMM Better Than APGA-led Government – Civil Servant Laments Over State-owned Rice

“Gentleman, we’re finally finished, completely finished” – Chief Bonaventure Mokwe
“MMM better than APGA led government – A civil servant victim.”

 

When a government is built on deceit, blackmail and propaganda, the electorates become end victims.

The scope about the abundant production of #Anambra Rice  backfires, as civil servants and

Come lemme give you some good love baby by Bintu Lakwaja

"Come lemme give you some good love baby."
"Good love ko, bad love no."
"Come lemme kiss your tender lips, stroke your soft hair and run my hands through your nape."
"Hmmm, how do you know my lips are tender abi that my hair is soft."
"Bintu, I have never seen a girl as beautiful as you."
"Brother you haff lie, your lie de compete with Yahaya Bello own for 100m race, chai!"
"Bintu, seriously, let me

Conflict, Peace and Strategic Centre by John Ewawoche Gabriel

   As part of our discussion on Southern Kaduna crisis, it's equally important for us to itemised some crisis that erupted in the Southern part of the state over the years.
Findings revealed that contrary to opinion s in some quarters that the crisis was fueled by Governor Nasir El-Rufai administration, the crisis was rooted years ago even before Mallam was appointed FCT minister.
in this piece also, we shall also profer proffer lasting solution to this recurrent çrisis.
CRISIS IN SOUTHERN KADUNA
1 Kasuwan Magani in Kajuru LGA, 1980, when Hausa traders tried to take over Adara land, claiming that the landbelonged to them.
2. Yarkasuwa, then in Lere District in 1986, during the contest for the district headship of

Reno Omokri: Prominent member of the irredeemably corrupt and profligate GEJ regime by Kadiri Abdulrahman

   Reno Omokri was a prominent member of the irredeemably corrupt and profligate gej regime. While they held sway, and since they were booted out of office, Omokri has continued to, shamelessly, display ignorance all in the bid to pull the present government down.
In his latest tweet, the foolish young man said that

MMM PALAVA by Lawal Sale

    Its been widely reported that some greedy and never to do well Nigerians that registered with the above named ponzi scheme are massively commiting suicide due to the temporary suspension of the scam they got entangled with. Some agencies of government are

People Of The Year 2016 by Hannatu Musawa

PERSON OF THE YEAR 2016: PRESIDENT ELECT, DONALD.J TRUMP The greatest single news event of 2016 took place on November 9 when the American electorate went to the polls to cast their votes to determine who will emerge as the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. Having emerged from the most bitter and contentious election campaign in living memory, a Democratic, Hilary Clinton and Republican, Donald Trump submitted themselves to the voting process in a bid to decide who would become The President of the United States of America.
With scandal after scandal bedevilling each of the candidates, by all odds the more polarizing figure was Billionaire Donald Trump. During the campaigns, Mr Trump had reaped on the

59,017,382 Stupid Americans By Hannatu Musawa

   “How stupid can 59,017,382 people be” was the question that the world was confronted with last week when Americans elected into office the most hasty, nasty, undignified, crass and clueless man ever to have come out of the ‘so-called’ free world. One would have thought that some of the issue policies bitterly argued upon during the election campaign and some of the serious concerns brought up against the President-Elect would have played a part in this once great country’s politics, but instead they throw to the world this most odious of leadership. Most people thought that 8th November was the day that Americans would prove their detractors wrong by broadening their tunnel vision regarding the rest of civilisation and

We’re still wrong about rights by Ayo Sogunro

Ayo Sogunro

Quite often, I have found myself compelled to defend the fundamentals of human rights to supposedly educated people in Nigeria. A clear demonstration of the declining quality of our “educated” middle class is the generic ignorance of foundational social concepts, particularly on the rule of law and the sanctity of human rights. Nigeria—in 2016—is increasingly becoming a point of space and time where we revile knowledge and mock discourse.

This seems an appropriate reflection of the plunging humanism of the Euro-American world. The idea and ideal of a universal humanity is collapsing under international tribalism. The western world is retrogressing from post-war advances to

As “Political Grand God-Fathers” Retire From Partisan Politics - By Chibuzo Ukaibe, EMAMEH GABRIEL

 CHIBUZO UKAIBE and EMAMEH GABRIEL, write on the retirement of some political colossus from active partisan politics and the vacuum thereof.

  The last two years has seen the withdrawal of some prominent politicians from partisan politics, invariably leaving the scene for the present generation of politicians.
These are political colossus, much like “political grand god-father” who have largely defined the political space for decades.

Besides amassing huge follower-ship base, they have since produced god-sons who are currently god-fathering political sons of their own.
While the natural process of age has kicked in, coincidentally, for some, their exit from partisan political scene came with the emergence of a new party at the

Buhari’s Presidency And The Rest Of Us by Ogheneovo Omene

  About two years ago, Nigerians made a choice to replace the former ruling party in the country, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), with the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) as the vanguard of the government at the centre. The choice then, as it is now, was not to elect an individual, region or geo-political zone but to elect a political party which had promised them change.
What the APC did was to educate Nigerians on the tragic manner the country was being governed. In earnest, Nigeria tottered towards an eclipse that left the economy hanging dangerously on the edge of a precipice. Cajoled by the

SGF, Senate And Faulty Steps by Okanga Agila

In its customary and baseless umbrage, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has indicted the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr. Babachir David Lawal over alleged contract scams. Flowing from this, the Red Chamber has also issued a matching order in a resolution calling on his resignation or suspension.
Precisely, the indictment of the SGF is over alleged contract infractions from the Presidential Initiative on the Northeast (PINE) on Internally Displayed persons (IDPs) camps. The Senate also directed President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure his prosecution for contravening Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
Nigerians need no soothsayer to

Our Stand: The Opposition In The Gambia And Common Sense - Leadership Editor

Leadership Editors

The late Professor Sam Aluko, a Nigerian economist, once defined economics as “common sense that is not common”. Nigeria’s first president, a quintessential political grandmaster, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, also posited that only a fool would argue with an armed man.
These aphorisms are applicable in politics, especially in the developing nations of Africa still moving in measured steps as they struggle to embrace the democratic system as a governance process. In more civilised climes, when there is a change in leadership, courtesy and protocol demand that an incumbent, who still wields the reins of power, authority and

The Fall And Fall Of PDP by Majeed Dahiru

  The political behemoth known as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), whose chieftains  fondly refer to as the largest political party in Africa; an appellation that is clearly a misnomer, which can best be described as a cheerful expression of a glutinous privileged few feeding fat on state resources, because the claim is not based on any empirical comparative yardstick. At the height of its power and might, the PDP arrogantly projected it was going to rule for 60 years, irrespective of its performance in government. This projection was cut short in 2015 after a 16-year rule that was generally characterised by the good, bad and ugly times. The PDP is generally perceived to

National Treasure, Regional Gem by Hannatu Musawa

 The community in Northern Nigeria is an entity encompassing over half the population of the country. The North possesses widespread water resources, vast land, the most fertile agricultural soil in the nation, abundant natural endowments awaiting development, amongst so many other virtues. An entity I am so proud of; one, which, once upon a time, yielded much power and produced the most selfless, patriotic leaders this country has ever witnessed, but continues to find itself caught in a web of disarray.
With the damage that the north had been subjected to in recent times, today Arewa remains a ghost of

Buhari’s Trip To Banjul And The Morning After by Azubuike Ishiekwene

There’s no need asking why Gambian President Yahya Jammeh changed his mind and minced his words.  After 22 years in power, Jammeh has learnt that mincing his words make them easier to swallow.
Forget the nonsense about evidence of vote rigging and the call for a god-fearing umpire to conduct fresh elections. Jammeh has been man and god for 22 years and suddenly, he’s at a loss about what happened to his omnipotence.
He knew that once the results were announced and his challenger, Adama Barrow, was declared winner after receiving 43 per cent of

Excesses and excuses by Femi Macaulayon

 It is ironic that what was designed as a medal of honour is attracting dishonour. After two four-year terms in office and an initial applause, former Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and his former deputy, Dr. Pius Odubu, are on the receiving end of applaudable boos. At the heart of the matter is an unfeeling move by the Edo State House of Assembly.
News that the state’s lawmakers amended the “2007 Pension Rights of the Governor and Deputy Governor Law” to favour Oshiomhole and Odubu was particularly striking because of its curious complexion.  There was only one amendment to

Fidel Castro: The burden of a name by Dele Agekameh

Fidel Castro

It is not only those who attended Castro’s funeral last Sunday that are mourning him. There are lots of other mourners all over the globe. One of them is yours truly. My obsession with Fidel Castro’s persona dates back to 1972. That was my second year as a student at Saint John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife, present day Osun State. Saint John’s was founded in 1962 by the late Reverend Father Fabian Cloutier. He was a Christian missionary of the Roman Catholic faith who came all the way from Canada to Nigeria for pastoral duties and settled in Ile-Ife where he lived until he retired and relocated to Canada. He died few years ago.
As somebody who

From Nigeria, Gambia to Ghana; Psychology of an African Electorate by Israel A. Ebije

  Technology assisted voters card readers, cyber based pervasive media has greatly permitted positive impact on electoral process in Africa, where real time circulation of results is possible. These technological possibilities and the new policy by electorate to wait for votes to be counted has also reduced manipulations.

Manipulations can be reduced for now, but African styled politics allegedly confirmed by out going president of Ghana, John Mahama is still festooned on tokenistic gifts, deployment of security to muzzle the people, recruitment of

Full Text Of President Buhari’s Speech At 2017 Budget Presentation

SPEECH OF H.E. PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI ON THE 2017 BUDGET OF RECOVERY AND GROWTH AT JOINT SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 14TH DECEMBER 2016
Protocols
1. It is my pleasure to present the 2017 Budget Proposals to this distinguished Joint Assembly: the Budget of Recovery and Growth.
2. We propose that the implementation of the Budget will be based on our Economic Recoveryand Growth Strategy. The Plan, which builds on our 2016 Budget, provides a clear road map of policy actions and steps designed to bring the economy out of recession and to a path of steady growth and prosperity.
3. We continue to face the most challenging economic situation in the history of our Nation. Nearly every home and

Why Atiku Must Not Politicise Call For True Federalism by Idris Usman

The raging debate for the restructuring of the country has continued to take centre stage of discuss just like in the past in the recent time. That nonetheless, one thing have distinguished the latest call from the calls of the past.
Before now, the call for restricting has always been known to be a demand of a segment of the Civil Society organization and socio political groups mostly from the Southern part of the country such as the then NADECO, Afenifere, Ijaw National Congress, Ohaneze etc.

But now, this call has

Re: Obasanjo Attacks Buhari, Senators, Reps, Judges by Ahmed Adoke

I wish to respond to the above subject matter published in The Nation newspaper of  Thursday November 24, 2016, pages 6 and 47.
The best friend is that courageous person who points out the shortcomings of  others with a view of making amends in the interest of the generality. One of such persons is former Nigerian president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whom I interacted with during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70.
Thus far, I have not seen any positive response from those Obasanjo accused of impropriety that is contributory to our present hardship. Apart from name- calling, fagging him the ‘grandfather of corruption’, in truth, the issues raised by Obasanjo have not been addressed.
Much as Obasanjo cannot exempt himself from blames over our present economic imbriglio, well meaning Nigerians will appreciate that we have somebody blunt enough to point out mistakes of those in governance.
Experience, they say, is the best teacher. Obasanjo has seen the two sides of the coin in governance, military and civilian; hence, those in the present government should listen to his advice rather than castigate him.
The poor Nigerians who have suffered so much from past governments hope that President Muhammadu Buhari has a magic wand that would automatically ease their suffering, but,

Patrick Yakowa: Unanswered Questions Four Years After by Reuben

  As I looked at the last known picture of Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, taken on 15th December 2012 as he, in the company of Gen. Andrew Azazi, walked toward the Helicopter that would crash and kill them minutes later in the forest of Okoroba, Bayelsa state, I marveled at the finite mortality of us all in this world.  The cumulative minutes expended keenly scrutinizing that last picture, looking for unfamiliar answers add up to hours yet, the picture has held tightly to what it doesn’t know about those few minutes before

Burgeoning triumph of democracy in Africa by Hannatu Musawa

 THE club of authoritarian leaders maintaining an iron grip on power in parts of Africa, either by amending laws to extend their terms of office, hosting rubber-stamp elections or repressing opposition and civil society is fast dwindling. Nine leaders have wielded power for more than 20 years in Africa; four of them have been at the helm for more than 30 years. Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo seized power from his uncle in 1979, the same year Angola’s José Eduardo dos Santos rose to power.

Robert Mugabe has

The inmates’ chatter by Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Do not follow a person you see running away – African proverb
After weeks of attempts to ignore each other, they finally began to come to terms with the objective similarity of their conditions and circumstances. They were going nowhere. Not even a few feet away from each other. They could finally speak with each other, a significant progress from the silent struggle for space, fresh air, fights that no one separated, alliances that collapsed every few hours and the imperatives of sharing very little. The normal protocols in detention will be the existence of a leader supported by enforcers and a hierarchy designed by length of stay, muscle and the necessities of maintaining order. Not here. This is not the normal cell. Every inmate here represents the others’ source and target of hostility. The cell was the world that had locked them up, its occupants constant reminders that they all had long chains that are not severed by walls or

Gambia: Peace mission frail as Buhari, Mahama and others met a stone wall

The West African leaders who were in Gambia on Tuesday to try to convince Yahya Jammeh to acknowledge defeat in the recent presidential election and cede power failed to reach an agreement in this direction, leader of the team Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said.
“We have not come to an agreement, we have come to help the Gambians to organize the transition. It is not something that can be accomplished in a single day, we have to work on it,” Mrs Sirleaf told the press after meeting Jammeh and winner of the polls, Adama Barrow separately.
Sirleaf who is also Chair of

TRUMP: Only God Knows Tomorrow by Bala Muhammad

(God?) while a popular adage in Hausa strengthens this: “Sanin Gaibu Sai Allah!” (Only God Knows The Unseen). All these go to describe the shock and awe that was Donald Trump’s triumph in the US Presidential Elections.

Eight years ago exactly, on this very space, following the first election of Obama as US President, we had said: “With God, nothing is impossible! The Arabs have a saying: ‘Iza aradal Lahu shai’an, hayya’a asbabahu’ (if God intends to do something, He causes the causes that would cause the something to happen).” Only God could have made what happened in America to happen. Analysts would give several reasons why Donald Trump (as Obama did in 2008) won the elections but, ultimately, who caused all the reasons to happen? None but God - He had intended what He intended and

Negotiating with the Niger Delta leaders by Haruna Y. Sa’eed

Niger Delta leaders With BuhariPresident

 Muhammadu Buhari met the Leaders/Representatives of the Niger Delta, or rather the Oil producing States, on November 1st, 2016 on the lingering economic and security issues in the oil producing areas. The Niger Delta leaders presented a list of 16 demands as condition for peace in the region. Further, two other demands were added: that there should be no mistake of announcing policies and plans, relating to the issues, without vigorous public scrutiny and inputs; and that the problem would remain if those affected were excluded from the process of

Who is a ‘Patriotic Nigerian’? by Jideofor Adibe

By Jideofor Adibe @JideoforAdibe pcadibe@yahoo.com (07058078841 SMS only)

In garden talks and beer parlour political conversations, one

 often constantly hears one side charging the other: “Please

 let’s put sentiments aside and be patriotic here”. Such

 admonitions are fairly common when Nigerians of different

 political, ethnic and religious persuasions engage in political

 conversations. Over time, I have come to believe that the 

concept of ‘patriotism’ is not neutral in such conversations but 

often a veneer used by the contending groups to gain mileage

 during arguments.

In this reflection therefore, I will interrogate the notion of ‘patriotic Nigerian’, and how the identity of the ‘patriotic Nigerian’ interfaces with other identities that such a Nigerian bears.

Patriotism is often defined as an emotional

Who will make Nigeria great again? by Muhammad Al-Ghazali

Beneath the lies and half-truths in Donald Trump’s promise to ‘make America great again’ is the superior appeal of his message which cannot be denied with the wave of the hand.  Maybe he truly means well for the generality of Americans from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. It could also be that the campaign slogan had a bipartisan appeal, like the outcome of the presidential elections partially suggested.
Even so, there is one thing about Trump’s message which we can hardly ignore. Whether we agreed or disagreed with his motives, it abundantly clear that we don’t appeal to greatness in a vacuum or from a void. We do so on the presumption of a distinct nostalgia of a better past. It is a positive aspiration. It invokes our

Exile, jail, death or concession by Mahmud Jega

 More than was the case with President Goodluck Jonathan last year, all Africa was surprised when President Yahya Jammeh conceded to his opponent Adama Barrow in last week’s Gambian presidential election. Some Nigerians were quick to say that it was “the Goodluck Effect,” a replay of Jonathan’s concession even before results were officially declared in Nigeria’s 2015 presidential elections. Jammeh’s concession was doubly surprising because it bucked an emerging world trend. Most pundits think that if Donald Trump had lost last month’s US presidential election, he would have upturned his

Rise Of The New Voters by Osita Chidoka

The BBC website on Friday night announced that “Ghana’s opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo has won Wednesday’s tightly contested presidential election. President John Mahama called Mr Akufo-Addo to concede defeat, a spokesman for his party said, as the Electoral Commission announced the result. Celebrations have broken out in the capital, Accra.
The website also reported that “Ghana has been a multi-party democracy since the end of military rule in 1992 and this result is seen as reinforcing its reputation for the peaceful transfer of power between administrations. Mr Akufo-Addo, from the New Patriotic Party, won the election on his third attempt to reach the presidency, after a campaign dominated by the country’s faltering economy.”
The election in Ghana that

A Buhari Unbowed By 2016 Challenges by Philip Agbese

On the surface, 2016 looks like a year Nigerians would like to zap from their memories. It is the year in which President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration marked one year in office and this was a milestone that used to attract the equivalent of non-stop genuflecting from corridor trekkers. But for this year, like the waves receding at low tide to expose the mess that revellers and picnickers have made on the beach, all the failings and errors of the year past were revealed in all their harsh goriness.
The naira took a great fall. Again, an expected economic recession hit the country harder than was envisaged. Insurrection blossomed in the south and the only comfort and

Obasanjo’s challenge of Buhari by Sonala Olumhense

President Muhammadu Buhari receives former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Presidential Villa in Abuja

As one who firmly believes that one Olusegun Obasanjo squandered the finest opportunity of any Nigerian leader since independence, I have often criticized him. 

Between 1999 and 2007, he could have transformed Nigeria into Africa’s most developed, most productive and most functional economy.  The records show that he compounded the situation, and then handed over to his handpicked successors who made matters considerably worse. 

That led, inevitably, to the arrival of one Muhammadu Buhari, who had sworn for years Nigeria needed cleansing, and that he was the man for the job. 

When Buhari was sworn in last year, it was evident that Obasanjo had him trapped.  But Buhari ignored the obvious.

Speaking at the at the first Akintola Williams Annual Lecture last week, Obasanjo sprung that trap, telling Buhari to stop giving excuses and, in effect, to get on with being the