Nigeria: Reducing The Cost Of Governance

By Anthony Akinola

Agitation or call for a reduction in the cost of governance has been rather perennial. I wrote on this very topic sometime in the 1980s for the London-based West Africa magazine. I had then called for a reduction in the number of senatorial seats per state, which then was five. I had also called for a reduction in the number of ministers and advisers-all these in the Nigerian Second Republic.

*President Buhari and Senate President Lawan

I would later follow up this discussion with a memorandum to the Ibrahim Babangida-led Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), sometime in 1986, in which I suggested that senatorial constituencies could be limited to what is now 3 Senators per state. 

Restructuring: Beyond Mere Sloganeering

By Anthony Akinola

Take it or leave it, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo would forever remain one of the greatest political leaders in the history of Nigeria. He was one politician eulogised and rightly adjudged capable of being a successful Prime Minister of Great Britain by no one other than a former Prime Minister of that historic colonial power.

One enviable political attribute of Awolowo was his distaste for rhetoric, preferring to convince his audience about the viability of his proposal. He would go about his proposal like a diligent scholar would go about his or her doctoral thesis-define it, explain it, and defend it. For instance, when Awolowo proposed his idea of free education for the Nigerian federation, he not only explained its benefits, but  also went as far as explaining how what was a gargantuan project to others could be funded. 

Of Migrant Politicians And Political Prostitution

By Anthony Akinola

Quite a number of Nigerians are politically aware, even if their level of political participation hardly goes beyond voting in an election. They could be heard taking sides at election time, arguing vociferously as to why they would support one candidate against another. My recent visit to beloved Nigeria, coinciding with the Ekiti gubernatorial election of June 14, 2018, reinforced my insight into the thinking of the locals as to the possible direction of their votes in the election.  

*President Buhari 

At the highly-impressive Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, I encountered a local chief and another lady visitor to the institution who talk animatedly about how they would rather vote for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), than that of the rival All Progressives Congress (APC). In praising Aare Afe Babalola for founding a university that has provided job opportunities for hundreds of Nigerians, they said Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the APC would rather build his own university in Ghana, providing jobs for the people of Ghana instead of Nigerians.