‘Technically Defeated’ Boko Haram: The Sad Case Of Metele

By Reno Omokri

A most disturbing thing happened in Nigeria. Over a period of 3 days last week, the allegedly ‘technically defeated’ Boko Haram managed to overrun multiple military bases and reportedly killed close to a hundred Nigerian troops and carried away heavy military hardware.

*President Buhari with COAS Gen Burutai 

But that is not the disturbing thing that occurred. The killings were shocking, but something much more disturbing happened. The Nigerian President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the military and who is supposed to be the most pained over these avoidable deaths had time to:

*attack former President Jonathan for agreeing with Transparency International that corruption had increased in Nigeria

Who Will Be Nigeria’s Next Mistake In 2019?

By Banji Ojewale

“In all science, error precedes the truth, and it is better it should go first than last” —Horace Walpole (1717-1797) English writer and politician.

If we go by what our politicians (the major presidential candidates notably) are saying about each other this campaign season, we can’t but conclude that they are all ‘misfits’ for office in 2019. They have smeared themselves. They have used invectives dug from the gutter to paint themselves. They have cancelled one another from the log of men and women of integrity.

*President Buhari 

They have thrown away their gloves and bruised their faces with bare fists. They have either asked the umpire to stay off or have left the ring altogether to slug it out in the mud. Now it’s a bloody street fight all the way. When the vote is cast and the result declared, both the winner and defeated and spectator would be losers, none a victor, even if there is a coronation. Why? It would be a pyrrhic triumph, where you’d ask yourself if you haven’t run all this marathon race only to end up with a mistake as your leader.

Waiting For Atiku’s Women

By Banji Ojewale

There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women

—Kofi Annan (1938-2018), former UN Secretary-General.

I am among millions of Nigerians who can’t wait for the day God will bless our dear country with a visionary and radical female president, along with a great host of the fairer sex of kindred spirit governing the states and heading the MDAs. The tragedy of an effete economy, social stagnation and political paralysis that we have lived with over the years is the consequence of the neglect of this formidable section of society by our leaders. 

*Atiku  Abubakar 

Developing society and its constituents boils down to making use of all the functional human capital at your disposal. The moment you succumb to so-called imperatives of culture, false religion or superstition, and you drop the women, youth and the working class from your strides, you begin to enter a reverse march. That’s been Nigeria’s misogynist history, always drawing us into the bottomless depths of backwardness. 

What Does Atiku Abubakar Want?

By Hope Eghagha   

Early in 2018 when Mallam Atiku Abubakar began to reference restructuring the nation’s polity as one of his cardinal goals, I thought I should take him seriously. As a man from the Niger Delta whose region has been fundamentally shortchanged by the current quasi-federal arrangement I naturally took interest in this core northern leader who had decided to make restructuring a campaign issue. 

*Atiku Abubakar 

Middle of last year I tried through some of his aides to reach him. No luck. He was either too busy or the aides I reached did not have the clout to arrange a meeting. So I let it rest. Once Atiku Abubakar secured the PDP’s nomination as presidential candidate I thought I should use this medium to broach some of the issues I would have presented to him.

Nigeria: Buhari, Atiku And The Dwindling Economy

By Phrank Shaibu
There is a growing acceptance in Nigeria today, that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed again in his headship of Nigeria. This time, as a supposed democratic leader, the failure is not just visible nationally but even the International Community has recognized it and is not leaving anyone in doubt about their observations.

*Buhari and Atiku 

The recent remarks by some notable world leaders and top financial institutions have no doubt become a source of great worry for many people. In reality, the few persons that feel comfortable with President Buhari’s style of governance can only be identified in the camp of his seeming warped followers, sycophants and some Nigerians that have been intimidated into silence by the so-called anti-corruption agency of this administration. 

Peter Obi Is A Worthy Choice!

By Goddy Uwazurike

I have read with disgust the vituperations of the enemies of this country on the choice of Peter Obi as the running mate of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The complaints range from non consultation to why the choice should be from the South East to the ridiculous protest of non PDP members.

*Peter Obi

For the avoidance of doubt, very few people parade the intimidating credentials of Peter Obi. Again, very few people parade the integrity of Peter Obi. Further more, very few people parade the common sense economics of Peter Obi. Finally, very few people parade the ability of Peter Obi to overlook personal aggrandisement in public and private life. 

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. 

President Buhari Has Failed Nigerians – US

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) said outcome of research it conducted across states in Nigeria revealed that most Nigerians believe that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has failed to meet their expectations since coming to power on May 29, 2015.

*Presidents Buhari and Trump

The report also predicted an upsurge in electoral violence and voter apathy during the 2019 general elections.

The report entitled, ‘Nigeria’s 2019 Elections: Change, Continuity and the Risk to Peace’, is a presentation of USIP’s electoral violence risk assessment research which was arrived at after interviews conducted in some selected states across the country.

Nigeria: A Country That Refuses To Grow Up

By Dan Agbese

Is it a storm? Is it a gale? Is it a tsunami? It is defection, the latest virus in the sclerotic arteries of our national politics. This poison is the only lucrative political business in town today. People are defecting from APC to PDP and from PDP to APC. It beats common sense but then you would do well to remember that common sense is not exactly a marketable product in the realm of politics, here and indeed, else where.

*Nigeria's Ex-Heads Of State 

Some of us are scratching our heads, wondering about this latest, and not to put a fine spin on it, ugly development in our national politics. The politicians do not believe that they owe us an explanation for what they are doing. But we cannot pretend not to know what is pushing them out of one party into another. It is meet and proper that in search of the why question, we raise questions that seem to beg reason. One of which is, in whose interest?

Nigeria, A Nation At War With Itself

By John Odeyemi

For the past couple of weeks, I have had the weirdest misfortune of listening to friends and former colleagues, people that I hold in high respect espousing ideas that I did not imagine any rational Nigerian would consider at this time. I have heard the incessant clamouring for PVCs – and for a while I thought they were referring to some plumbing device. On further inquiry, I came to understand that it has to do with the upcoming elections. 

*President Buhari 

I wonder how PVCs translates to electoral power when your votes are limited by the choices available to you. APC, PDP, are they not the same characters we ought to kick out of government? I am aligned with the position to suspend any absurd elections and call for a national referendum. The other insipid and malignant vituperation is the suggestion that President Muhammadu Buhari is fighting corruption and moving the country forward. 

Sen. Dino Melaye Kidnapped

The Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial Zone, Mr. Dino Melaye, was earlier today, July 26, kidnapped by yet-to-be identified   gunmen.

Mr. Melaye was on his way to Lokoja from Abuja when the kidnappers’ vehicle blocked his. He was due to appear before a magistrate court sitting in Lokoja in a case of alleged gunrunning brought against him. Mr. Melaye has, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. 

In a tweet earlier today, one of his colleagues in the senate, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce from Bayelsa State, announced the news of Mr. Melaye’s abduction.

Weep Not For Fayose, Weep For Nigeria

By Femi Fani-Kayode

“When Fayose won in 2014, the whole of Ekiti erupted with joy. In 2018 the APC “won” and all the streets of Ekiti are looking so gloomy. The people are sad because their will has been truncated”

— Adeolu Daramola

My friend and brother, Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state, is not infallible. He is not an angel and like every other mortal, he has his own fair share of faults, excesses and shortcomings. We do not agree on everything and neither do we always share the same opinion on matters of state and policy.

*Gov Ayodele Fayose 

I should add this: some of his friends are my sworn enemies and some of my friends are his, yet nothing and no-one can come between us. That is the nature of our covenant and deep bond which has its roots well above politics, which was borne through our shared love of the Living God and the Gospel of Christ and which was established and forged by the blood of Jesus. Our differences in terms of style and approach only brings us closer and serves to make our friendship stronger. And despite his regular displays of strong emotions, what a profoundly good and insightful man he is.

Nigeria: At A Pro-Propaganda Rally

By Dan Amor

I'm not your run-of-the-mills television freak or enthusiast. Due largely to the nature of my job, which is basically guided by the need to beat deadlines, I hardly have time for over-indulgence in leisure and other niceties. Whereas my wife and kids occasionally feast on the television screen for either of their usual sops- Zee World, or Nickelodeon, yours sincerely would always lock himself up in the study writing an editorial or a column. 

Yet, since January this year (2018), I have occasionally squeezed a few minutes of my limited time in my little room to watch CHANNELS Television's flagship programme, SUNRISE DAILY. On occasions, viewers are treated to a crossfire which usually features a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and another of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are made to argue on a topical issue of public concern in a moderated atmosphere.

Nigeria: President Buhari: Resign And Run Far Away!

By Sonala Olumhense

Finally, President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed what has been known to many for nearly three years: he wants to remain in power for four more years. According to Mr. Buhari, this decision is owed not to his personal desire, but to popular clamour.  

*President Buhari 

It is always amusing when people who seek office, or want to cling to it, cite popular pressure.  The truth is that only Buhari’s circle of loyalists wants him back.  No Nigerian whose desire or interest is leadership rather than power, does. 

I am not necessarily saying Buhari will not win the re-election contest, but if he does, it will not be because he deserves it.  To begin with, voter turnout was high for him when he won in 2015, hope in full bloom.  

In 2019, betrayed Nigerian voters may revert to indifference.  Already, it is curious that mountains of voters’ cards are being ignored by their owners nationwide.  

Nigeria: Treading The Road To Rwanda

By Brady Nwosu

History is replete with nations that fought wars, survived and came out stronger, but nations that are at war with themselves hardly survive or come out stronger. The so-called Nigerian civil war was rather an invasion of the Eastern Region. Every civil war, in fact all fought wars thereafter, go with lessons and a cause never to repeat itself. But it was not a civil war because there was no spread of ill experiences, except in the conquered enclave. While the people dwelling in rest of Nigeria were going about their normal live, banks and other utility institutions were actively functioning, age grades overlapped their delayed mates in the invasive eastern conquest.

*Buhari 

Today, Nigeria is at war with itself; pushing itself to negative entropy. It is at the precipice and could fall apart sooner than predicted. Nigeria is described in the Failed Index State as extremely fragile. By extreme fragility, they mean, when a country is unable to supervise its territorial areas.

Nigeria: Buhari Must Go or Be Impeached

By Toyin Dawodu

Buhari Isn’t Getting Better, But He May Be Getting Worse!   

A recent report in the Nigerian publication, SaharaReporters, revealed that President Buhari is having difficulty eating and drinking but is not being allowed to travel for medical treatment. As at the time of writing this article, the president has not refuted this report.

*Buhari 

For more than six months, Buhari’s administration has kept quiet on the president’s deteriorating health. No one has even told the citizens of Nigeria what ails the president. We don’t know if he is capable of discharging his constitutional duties. We don’t know if he has the ability to make sound decisions anymore. We don’t even know if he retains power over his own day to day activities. All we know is something is most certainly wrong.

We have men and women whom we elected to office who have not demanded transparency of Buhari’s administration. The Nigerian people have a right to know if their president is unable to fulfill his duties.

In a statement issued by Chief Bisi Akande, the founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akande called on Nigerians to “pray fervently” for Buhari’s health.

After prayers, then what? Buhari is sick! He cannot perform his duties. If Chief Akande wants to lead any movement for Nigerians, it should involve more than just sending prayers. There must also be progressive action. A movement that truly helps Nigeria would be encouraging Buhari to resign to allow his capable Vice President to lead the nation. Refusing to act is not an option, and failure to do so will result in electoral punishment for APC, come 2019.

Did Nuhu Ribadu Benefit From Dasukigate?

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

*Ribadu

Is it true that the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, also received N100m from the fabled "Dasukigate" to finance his gubernatorial ambition in Adamawa State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as alleged recently by his successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri? If it is true, why has he not been publicly named and shamed like other Nigerians who have been so treated? Could it be that he secretly returned his own share of the loot as we are told some people did?

Or he was simply protected by his protege, Ibrahim Magu, the embattled acting chairman of the commission? Or could it be that his joining ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) is a sort of plea bargain so that his crime will be swept under the carpet using the party's axiomatic broom? If on the other hand nothing like that happened, why has the loquacious Ribadu suddenly lost his voice?

Or could it be he neither heard nor read about Waziri's allegation? Isn't Nigeria itself a huge fraud with fraudsters making the most noise in the so-called war against corruption? Any wonder why we remain where we are as a country.

On The Marble  

*Farida Waziri 

“It is his lust for power, inordinate ambition and desperation for political relevance that continue to push him to dine and wine, and even enjoy the wealth of those he had labelled as corrupt in yesteryears. He can’t hold me responsible for his double face, lack of principle and complex contradictions in his character.

“There is also the need to remind Nuhu Ribadu that before he succumbs to another logorrhoea, he should avail himself a copy of the investigative report on recovered asset during his tenure as EFCC chairman and use the opportunity of the next naming ceremony or birthday party he is invited to, to explain to Nigerians what happened to billions of funds and asset recovered from suspects under him, with no records or documentation.

“He should be grateful to me that I cleaned his mess by creating an Asset Forfeiture Unit to put the records straight and do things rightly.” – Farida Waziri

Nigeria: Democracy Minus The PDP

By Abraham Ogbodo  

This is Nigeria’s fourth attempt at democracy hence the ongoing dispensation is aptly called the Fourth Republic. Ordinarily, some measure of mastery should be assured having gone through the same process four times over. But if nothing is learnt or mastered in subsequent performance and the approach remains constant, sheer repetition of a process is not going to translate to different outcome.

Last week, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko visited Aso Rock Villa. It could be described as unplanned visit because the decision by Mimiko to be at the headquarters only propped up after INEC had made statements about parties and their candidates in the upcoming governorship election in Ondo State. Specifically, the governor was in Abuja to tell President Muhammadu Buhari that Ondo State is being pushed to the precipice following the decision by INEC to stay with Jimoh Ibrahim, instead of Eyitayo Jegede, as the PDP candidate in the November 26 election.

The background to all of this is rather familiar. There is a certain Ali Modu Sheriff who has become like a shadow that cannot be detached from the substance except darkness is induced. This is what has forced the PDP to have two leadership faces. Modu Sheriff is one and the other is former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi. This monstrous outlook has subsisted even when the party has gone extra lengths within the prescribed rules to prove that it has only one face represented by Makarfi. Somehow, the party is not able to use all the means of communication available to it to say to who its national chairman is and who is not.

Others who seek to reap political benefits call the current state of affairs in the PDP intra-party crisis. Because the crisis is not yielding to judicial arbitration, the capacity of the party to attack and kill the snake in its house is greatly weakened too. If nothing is done, the PDP could be obliterated to free the democratic space of opposition politics. There is no other quicker way for a conscious society to migrate on its own volition from democracy to dictatorship.

For now, this whole thing about the PDP’s inability to solve its problems may taste very sweet. The official position is that the APC and the presidency have no hands in what is happening in the PDP, contrary to the belief in some quarters. The problem has been fully offloaded at the doorstep of the judiciary to crack. It is taken that the courts have the powers to decide even, in spite of the PDP, who between Modu-Sheriff and Ahmed Markafi is the authentic chairman of the party. Consequently, persons and institutions central to the imbroglio and which can at least voice opinions to create a refraction in the narrative are showing an unusual degree of piety.

Muhammadu Buhari Vs Aisha Buhari

By Julius Oweh
The relationship between a husband and a wife is so iron clad that no person or matter can come between them especially in a blissful atmosphere.  Wives are known to protect the interest of their husbands especially in the public domain and the stakes are even higher should the husband be a politician and a president at that. Aisha Buhari, the spouse of President Muhammadu Buhari cuts a perfect picture of a dutiful and obedient spouse.

*President Buhari and wife, Aisha

The highly urbane and articulate Aisha was initially not involved in the soap box oratory and campaigns until Madame Patience Jonathan drew her into the arena. Since then, she has continued to distinguished herself as a proud wife and mother both to her children and husband. She has brought intellectualism and dignity to the office of the First Lady even though she has refused to bear the title and preferred to be to as the wife of the president. A case of six and half a dozen!

Courting the mass media is a dangerous terrain to those not aware of its enormous power and influence. The mass media can make or mar any personality depending on the level of interaction. That is why those who know the power and influence of the mass media tread carefully. It is one civics lesson Aisha Buhari may learn rather too late. Speaking to the Hausa service of the BBC, Aisha Buhari lamented that the government of her spouse has been hijacked by a cabal, adding that those who worked for her husband’s victory have been left in the cold.

Listen to part of that interview: "He is yet to tell me but I have decided as his wife that if things continue like this up to 2019. I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again… The president does not know 45 out of 50.I don't know them either despite been his wife for 27 years. Some of them don't even have voters card and those who made sacrifice have been reduced to nothing and certainly, I ‘m not happy with the way things are going."

The Aisha Buhari assessment is full of candour and the best description yet of the Buhari administration. It has nothing to do with the partisan views of Peoples  Democratic Party, PDP, or that of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. Coming from a better half of the president, it is really on the mark. It is more of a struggle between spouse obligations and the spirit of patriotism. In this case, patriotism seems to have the upper hand.

Aisha Buhari: New Face Of The Opposition?

By Steve Nwosu

First Lady, Aisha Buhari, is definitely working for the PDP.
And we can now officially enthrone her as the matriarch of the Wailers. Now, don’t ask me if she has ‘officially’ joined the PDP yet. But to underscore the fact that Hajia Aisha is currently being tempted to publicly tear her APC membership card (OBJ on my mind), President Muhammadu Buhari told a press conference in Germany last week that “I don’t know the party my wife belongs to”.

*Aisha Buhari 

So, officially, husband and wife are no longer in the same political party. My only problem for now is that I don’t know whether she belongs to the Makarfi/Wike faction or the Modu Sherrif faction. I also don’t know how much the umbrella people paid her to do what she’s doing.

Yes, if I or any other journalist or political commentator had said what Mrs. Buhari told BBC Hausa Service about Buhari and his government, I suspect the DSS, Police or EFCC would since have come calling. Yes, they might not resort to pulling down our doors or sneaking up on us like any gang of armed robbers and kidnappers would but bank accounts might have been frozen by now. And Lai Mohammed would be on air, talking about how we had been contracted and generously paid, by the PDP, to discredit Buhari’s government.

I think Aisha is coming from our rich and long production line of strong women in the corridors of power and leadership. Soft exterior, steely interior!

In Nigeria, we are not new to presidencies where the women wear the trousers and have the balls (if you’ll indulge me that expression).
Those who were close to the Goodluck Jonathan’s would swear that it was Mama Peace that had the balls. I was not close to the Umaru Yar’Aduas, but I’ve heard stories about Hajia Turai. President Olusegun Obasanjo may have been as stubborn as a he-goat, but people close to the then first family attest that his beautiful wife, Stella, was one woman OBJ could not put down.

I don’t know how the military leaders coped with their own wives, but legend has it that IBB stood no chance of ever making it to Maryam’s bedroom again if he had insisted, with the then Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), that Asaba should not be the capital of the then about-to-be-created Delta State.