Why Nigeria Is Worsening Under President Tinubu?

 By Mike Ikhariale

Nigeria has arrived at a very sorry pass, far worse than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago. The title of our discussion today is a rehash of our earlier evaluation of the pitiable condition of Nigeria which was itself an adaptation of the title of the seminar work by the intellectual duo of Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson, which they aptly entitled Why Nations Fail.

*Tinubu

The economic quagmire which the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has stampeded Nigerians into is the classical definition of a failing state, where the gov­ernment and its organs become ethically and conceptually handicapped and become incapable of performing the hallowed du­ties of government with patriotic, pruden­tial and analytical dispositions.

Obasanjo’s Moment Of Epiphany

 By Promise Adiele

I met Olusegun Obasanjo for the first time in his Abeokuta home in 2017. I had gone to interview him with Prof. Hope Eghagha as part of the research materials we needed for a national project. After three hours of robust engagement on various topics about Nigeria, I no longer had any illusions about Obasanjo’s sagacity, intellect, and sometimes exaggerations which exonerated him of all culpabilities, creating an infallible image of a being.

*Obasanjo 

To say that Obasanjo is intelligent is to put it mildly. He recounted historical events with an uncanny exactitude and subtle arrogance that belies his position as a no-nonsense former leader of the most populous black country in the world. One can profitably argue that few people know or understand Nigeria more than Olusegun Obasanjo.

Trumpism Set To Upset The World

 By Owei Lakemfa

Unto us, a man-child is again born by the United States, US, electorate. Donald Trump is actually a reincarnation sent to upset the world.

*Trump

Friends like the European Union and neigbouring Canada are jittery for he is unpredictable and, foes like China are girding their loins. Trump is the weird one the incompetent and visionless Biden administration has given a smooth ride back to the White House.

GDP Growth Report: Whose Figures?

 By Adekunle Adekoya

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910). Please note that Mark Twain himself attributed it to former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Last Monday, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, released a report on the National Gross Domestic Product for Q1 2024, that is, the first three months of this year. On its website, NBS gave the following overview: Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.98% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2024.

Decriminalising Nigeria’s Democratic Estate

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

A lot has been agitating my mind in recent times on the state of our union and why evil seems to continually thrive over good. Why is it that the things which disqualify people in other climes from holding public office are exactly what is needed by an average Nigerian politician to be considered astute?

In other climes, hardly will a certificate forger make a successful career in politics. In Nigeria the reverse is the case. Many of those in public office in Nigeria today forged their academic qualifications even when the bar is so ridiculously low that all you need to be president is the West African School Certification Examination, WASCE. You don’t even need to pass.

Tax Reform Bills: Tinubu Lacks The Will For National Consensus Building

 By Olu Fasan

Hardly anyone will disagree that Nigeria needs a fundamental tax reform. This, after all, is a country with one of the most cumbersome tax regimes in the world, where tax laws and regulations are overlapping and burdensome, where the administration and collection of taxes, and their spending, are ridden with inefficiency and corruption, and where tax avoidance and evasion are prevalent. Nigeria’s tax system is in deep crisis.

*Tinubu

However, while crises are a trigger for fundamental reforms, making the status quo unsustainable, they are not sufficient for reform success. In a democracy, there’s a critical need for an explicit electoral mandate for reform and for a carefully crafted policy design, shaped by a broad consensus for change.

Northern Elite Should Take Responsibility For Region’s Underdevelopment

By Aliyu Maigari Aliyu 

In the ongoing discourse surrounding the socio-economic challenges plaguing Northern Nigeria, the time has come for the long-standing elite in the region to take a step back and engage in meaningful self-reflection. 

Over the last 64 years of Nigeria’s independence, Northern elites have ruled the country for approximately 41 years. Despite this significant tenure, the region remains mired in underdevelopment, and the accusations being levied against President Bola Tinubu, who has spent less than two years in power, are not just disingenuous but also a stark exhibition of irresponsibility, to say the least. 

Are These Professional Soldiers?

By Sunny Awhefeada

A shocking and horrifying post appeared on facebook two days ago. The post in question is a video in which a helpless civil­ian was being pummeled by soldiers in uniform under the watchful supervision of a major-general!

The victim is neither a terrorist nor a bandit! He is just another ci­vilian accused by power drunk soldiers of denting the jeep of the major-general. As the brutes in uniform rained blows on the fellow, his traumatized wife wailed draw­ing attention to his ill-health and how his uniformed assailants were about to blind him. That heartrending cry of the wife did not deter the soldiers.

140 Years After The Berlin West Africa Conference

By Chidi Odinkalu & Chepkorir Sambu

Described by one scholar on its centenary as “perhaps the greatest historical movement of modern times”, the Berlin West Africa Conference began shortly after noon on 15 November 1884. Interrupted only by a short break at the end of the year and the beginning of the next, historian, Adu Boahen, records that the conference ended on 31 January 1884. 

On 26 February 1885, the powers gathered at the conference ratified the General Act of the Berlin Conference, which embodied their agreements. The week before the ratification of the General Act, according to historian, Godfrey Uzoigwe, the Lagos Observer newspaper lamented that “the world had, perhaps, never witnessed a robbery on so large a scale.”

AGF, IGP, Please Call DISCOs To Order; Avert Violence

 By Dele Sobowale

“FCCPC warns Ikeja, Eko Discos to halt metre replacement amid compliance concerns — Report, November 14, 2024.

The story went on to say that “The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued a stern warning to Ikeja and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) against plans to replace metres”. The FCCPC under Mr Tunji Bello has become more proactive than at any time since its inception by the Babangida administration (who else?) by Act No 66 of 1992.

The Dying Republic And ‘Go To Court’!

 By Ugoji Egbujo

Soon after independence, election rigging set the western region on fire and brought down the first republic. ‘Operation Wetie’ wasn’t just frustration and impatience; it was a rejection of the courts. In the second republic, malpractices returned to ruin elections’ credibility, and Baba Ajasin saw it better than others. Omoboriowo, who snatched victory from Baba, had to flee.

When that republic fell, the soldiers blamed their coming on economic hardship and rigged elections. The third republic didn’t last. Principal politicians, excluded, others were railroaded into an artificial dichotomy of two sterilised parties. Shorn of natural birth and passion and with a more transparent electoral procedure, the June 12 presidential election lacked edginess, fire and controversy. It didn’t precipitate confusion.

Stopping Vote-Buying Is Nigeria’s Lost Battle

 By Tonnie Iredia

About a month ago, when the Ondo State governorship election was some two weeks away, this column examined the possibility of the state enjoying a seamless election and came to the conclusion that even if the election surprisingly comes out well, one irreversible negative aspect would be vote buying which happens in every Nigerian election.

Well, the said Ondo election has come and gone and reports from election observers have confirmed our prediction. According to the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room made up of civil society organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible elections and governance in Nigeria, there was “widespread vote trading across the state, with voters and party agents openly engaged in the exchange of votes for cash, ranging from N10,000 to N20,000 in all 18 local government areas.”

IMF’s Doublespeak’ll Make Tinubu’s Hardship Worse

 By Adekunle Adekoya

During the work week ending today, that infamous Bretton Woods institution, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, was in doublespeak regarding the economy of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly mentioned countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, and my dear country ( I have no other!), Nigeria. 

*Tinubu

Urging Nigeria and the other countries to rethink implementation strategies of the reforms embarked on, the IMF, in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa report, noted that the countries involved in deep reforms, including Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya, may now be experiencing what it called ‘adjustment fatigue’, while some are facing civil resistance.

Mastering 2025 Day By Day!

Book Review

Reviewer: Banji Ojewale

Book: Daily Manna (A Devotional Guide, January-December 2025)

Author: W. F. Kumuyi

Publishers: Life Press, Lagos, Nigeria

Pagination: 379

William Blake was the Romantic English poet who believed that if you had it right from sun-up, you’d be positioned for success all through the day till sun-down. What he simply meant was that you needed to dedicate quality time to plot your vision of the trajectory of the day as you leave the bed. You impose your wishes on the day before you move into it, he insists; otherwise you’d run into elemental and untamable circumstances. The writer who lived between two centuries (1757-1827) put it this way: ‘’Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.’’

What Does It Take To Speak for President Tinubu?

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Ordinarily, the innocuous question – who speaks for President Bola Tinubu – should be a non-issue because it ought to be a given. But these are no ordinary times. In Tinubu’s bumbling emi l’okan dynasty, where the end justifies every means and jejune politics trumps governance, absurdity is the norm.

*Onanuga and Tinubu

Such intrigues, in the warped estimation of his rabid supporters, elevate him to the pantheon of political gods, making him the Jagaban of Nigerian politics. But Nigeria is worse for it.

Yorubanisation Of Tinubu’s Government: Nigeria’s Fate Is Now In Yoruba Hands!

 By Olu Fasan

Shortly before the 2023 presidential election, I wrote a piece titled “Yoruba ronu: A Tinubu presidency would tarnish your race” (Vanguard, February 16, 2023). The premise of that thoughtful and, in my view, patriotic intervention was threefold. 

*Tinubu

First, Bola Tinubu’s miasmic past was the antithesis of the honour-signalling ‘omoluabi’ ethos that Yorubas claim define them. His self-serving and feudalistic politics was entirely at odds with the ‘omoluabi’ core values. Second, Tinubu staked his presidential bid on “Emi lokan” (It’s my turn), but also on “Yoruba lokan” (It’s Yoruba’s turn).

Why Bola Tinubu Is Insensitive To End Hardship

 By Dan Onwukwe

Do you know why Bola Tinubu is always pushing the envelope on presidential powers and ignoring calls to end pervasive hardship in the country?

Tinubu
First, let’s get a textbook explanation for this question. Students of Management are familiar with this case study: It’s a common complaint in which managers of a knowledge-based company grumbled that the Chief Executive Officer couldn’t get his engineers to think like a leader. As it’s in corporate organisations so it is in politics.

The Metamorphosis Of Nuhu Mallam Ribadu

 By Dr Ugoji Egbujo

Born in 1960, Nuhu Ribadu, perhaps, had independence in his genes. Son of a first republic parliamentarian from Yola, Nuhu came with a good  spoon in his mouth.

*Ribadu 
After he studied law, he  joined the police,  climbing  the career ladder of a corrupt and disoriented institution. Young  Ribadu, it appeared, resisted the mind bending culture and stored a grudge for filth. But cynics saw a temperamental, conceited, attention-seeking, power-hungry, and callow fellow.  In 2003, after glimpses of promise at the department of prosecution, Nuhu arrived on the national stage. 

Is Kemi Badenoch’s Elevation To Our Credit As A Nation Or To Our Shame?

 By Muyiwa Adetiba

A couple of weeks ago, the Sunday Vanguard lamented the mass exodus of the country’s medical doctors in its front page story. The article talked of a medical workforce so depleted that retired doctors had to be coerced back to save our hospitals and offer a semblance of professional service to the people. These days, almost every young intern dreams of going abroad to continue their career.

*Kemi Badenoch

I can testify to this in a small, miniscule way. Three young doctors, in as many years, have stayed in our home to facilitate their internship on the island. Each one of them saw staying and practicing in Nigeria as a dead end and merely used the year of internship to put finishing touches to their traveling arrangements.

Bad, Bad Badenoch….

 By Obi Nwakanma

Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of the British Conservative Party was born to Nigerian parents with Yoruba ancestry. Her father, the now late Dr. Femi Adegoke was a Medical doctor and Yoruba Nationalist activist in Lagos, and her mother, Feyi Adegoke was a Professor of Physiology at the University of Lagos. 

*Badenoch

Kemi was born in January 1980, according those who know her family well, in a London hospital. This, only because her mother had complications with her pregnancy, and had to be delivered of her baby under specialist care in a small Wembley Hospital. I doubt this very much. In 1980, Nigeria had very distinguished, world class neonatal specialists at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Medical Services were still relatively decent.

1966 Coups, Biafra, Asaba Massacre, Gowon: Adebayo Williams On Chuks Iloegbunam

 By Tony Eluemunor

“I prefer to be accused of nastiness than to join in the national pastime of consigning events of a few years ago into prehistory”.

Chinua Achebe wrote that in the preface of his book of essays, Morning  Yet On Creation Day, to explain why he had to include essays on the Biafran war in that book instead of pretending that the war never took place. Here and now, I second that “motion”.

Tatalo Alamu, in his offering titled Ninety Bouquets For Jack Gowon published in the Nation newspaper of November 3, 2024, poured encomiums on Gen. Yakubu Gowon, “as an exemplary Nigerian patriot, a soldier-statesman and shining moral exemplar for many of his compatriots”.

JUDICIARY CLEAN-UP: NJC Needs More Sincerity!

By Tonnie Iredia

No one disputes the fact that many problems currently confronting Nigeria’s judiciary are caused by a few bad eggs in the system as it is in many other organizations. If those few bad eggs are not quickly expelled or aggressively beaten into line, the cancer they have attracted into that arm of government in the last couple of years will soon quickly spread all through the system.

What this suggests is that the greatest problem facing the Nigerian judiciary today is not the continuing recklessness of the so-called bad eggs but the apparent lack of courage and sincerity of those at the top to hold the bull by its horn and call everyone to order. The implication of this is that the posture of the National Judicial Council NJC which is empowered to regulate the judiciary is inadvertently increasing the bad eggs.

November 11, 1995 And The Tragedy Of Democracy

 By Kola Johnson

Precisely 29 years on Monday, that historic moment, November 11, 1995, when Nigerian politicians converged at Eko Hotel for the colorful summit of all Nigerian politicians – a historic first mammoth gathering of all Nigerian politicians cutting across diverse party shades and affiliations – after the June 12 annulment of the 1993 election, of which the Billionaire business mogul, MKO Abiola was the popularly acclaimed winner – optimism ballooned to euphoric heights.

*Abiola 

It was an occasion that commanded all the trappings of a big event, parading notable and immensely influential movers and shakers in the Nigerian political hemisphere, in the likes of Alex Ekwueme, Bola Ige, Olu Falae, Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, Abubakar Rimi, among others, just as it also furnished for me, a congenial milieu for a direct interactive interface with the likes of Iyorchia Ayu, Isiaka Adeleke, Lema Jibril, Ojo Madueke, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, Yemi Farounbi, and ex-Governor Michael Otedola, whom I had been privileged to meet before, at Airport Hotel, in December 1988, during the Gala Nite celebration of Epe Lions Club.

On Right Track As Hunger Envelops The Land?

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Earlier in the week, at the 70th birthday celebrations of Pastor Tunde Bakare, President Bola Tinubu and the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, spoke for the umpteenth time on the excruciating economic and social pains Nigerians are going through.

President Tinubu was represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume. Akume said at the occasion: “The President acknowledges that times are hard, but at the end of it all, there is always light. And solutions to complex problems can never be as instant as coffee, but we are on the right track.”

Donald Trump’s Return: Americans Put Economic Self-Interest Above Moral Values

 By Olu Fasan

There are two views of human behaviour. One is that people are primarily motivated by self-interest – what’s in it for me? The other is that people are primarily influenced by deeply ingrained moral values – what’s right and wrong? The first view comes from the rational choice or game-theoretic school, the second belongs to what scholars call constructivism.

*Trump

Now, Europeans are generally believed to privilege high principles over narrow self-interest. By contrast, Americans have long been seen as mostly self-interested, individualistic people, to whom moral values are secondary considerations. That caricature of the Americans played out powerfully last week when they overwhelmingly returned to power Donald Trump, president from January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021, notwithstanding his deeply flawed character and untoward past behaviour!

Chris Anyanwu’s ‘Bold Leap’

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

On December 2, 2024, Nigerians will converge at the main auditorium of the National Universities Commission for the public presentation of Senator Chris Anyanwu’s autobiography, Bold Leap.

To be sure, this is her third book. She wrote the first, The Law Makers, Federal Republic of Nigeria, while she was NTA correspondent at the National Assembly in the Second Republic. The second, The Days of Terror, came after her release from General Sani Abacha’s gulag in 1998.

But Bold Leap is significantly different and, no doubt, will stir up the hornets’ nest for the very reason that she pulled no punches in the 612-page tome.

The Minors’ Tale Of Woes And Torments

 By Dan Onwukwe 

It was a horrifying three-month tale of the bizarre and torment in a custody reserved for criminals. It was like nothing they had experienced in their lifetime, sometimes without food for three days and no sunlight.

And when food was given, it would not go round. With tears rolling down their cheeks as they narrated their travail, those who had stamina to speak up said their harrowing experience also came with being and beaten with sticks until several parts of their body bled.

Nigeria: The Return Of Kwashiorkor

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu 

The deadly kwashiorkor disease that was so much associated with the Biafra war has made a return to peacetime Nigeria. It was not a pretty sight seeing malnourished children with distended stomachs, nylon-like skins and dopey eyes during that evil war.

The belief was that kwashiorkor had gone for good with Biafra. My shock knew no bounds when I read in the Nigerian Tribune of Saturday, October 26, 2024 that kwashiorkor is back in town.

US Elections 2024 And Media Disaster

 By Ochereome Nnanna

In Mass Communication education, we are taught that the newsman or mass media practitioner, is an impartial reporter of newsworthy events. In a democratic society, media is a social trust and arbiter between the people and the government.

In Nigeria and other democracies, the media is given a constitutional role to uphold freedom of information and hold government accountable. Indeed, the media is often given the lofty moniker of “Fourth Estate”. There are informed reasons for all this. Media is expected to perform its functions accurately, objectively and completely, eschewing bias, malice and deliberately misleading their publics for private gain.

How Two Josephs Gave Nigeria A Crisis Of Jumpy Judges

 By Chidi Odinkalu

The unraveling of the regime of General Yakubu Gowon shortly after the end of Nigeria’s civil war in the decade of the 1970s began as a tale of two Josephs. One was Joseph Dechi Gomwalk, Gowon’s in-law and governor of his home state. The other was Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, one of Gowon’s trusted Ministers. It made for a riveting political spectacle whose legacies have proved durable. 

*Gowon 

In 1974, General Gowon, who had led Nigeria through a 30-month-long civil war, was into his eighth year as military head of state. It was four years after the end of the civil war and the country comprised 12 states. Although he grew up in Zaria, Gowon was Angas, a minority ethnic group in what was then known as Benue-Plateau State, whose military governor was Police Commissioner Joseph Gomwalk. He was also related to Gowon by marriage. 

Ondo Governorship: Will Election Deficiencies Persist?

 By Tonnie Iredia

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, says it is set to conduct a governorship election in Ondo state as scheduled for next Saturday November 16, 2024. The commission has also given firm assurances that all would be well. Whether or not people believe the electoral body is not easy to tell.

In truth, whereas there are a few permanent optimists who would always look forward to the assurances ending in successful elections, there are at the same time sceptics who justifiably think otherwise. History teaches this latter group that the narratives currently coming out of INEC and the nation’s security agencies are exactly same as those of previous locations where the people ended up disappointed.

Children Charged With Treason: Tinubu’s Damage Control

 By Dele Sobowale

“A society can be judged by the way it treats its children” – Nelson Mandela, 1913-2013.

Few Nigerians now harbour any hope that this country would produce a Mandela among its present crop of old politicians. And, if the young member of the House of Representatives, from Abia State, exhibiting delirium of power, as well as all the young Ministers, just sacked, represent the next generation of power seekers, then, we might have to wait until those in nursery school grow up.

Nigeria: From Giver To Beggar In 50 years

 By Dele Sobowale

I am delighted to announce here today that just three days ago, the African Development Bank board of directors approved $100 million for the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank for Nigeria.” — Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank for Africa, AIDB, Friday, October 18, 2024

All the people present at the event, when the AfDB fulfilled a promise made in June last year, must have given a thunderous ovation. To some extent, there is a need to cheer that a global bank is still willing to invest in Nigeria’s future. All is not gloomy; there is still some hope.

Ojukwu: Exile, Diplomacy And Survival

Book Reviewer: Cosmas Omegoh  

Even in death, fingers keep pursuing General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of the defunct Biafra Republic. And that is largely because of the pivotal role he played during the 30-month Nigeria/Biafra war (1967- 1970). 

Even more than five decades after the war ended and a decade after Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Ezeigbo Gburugburu's death, anything and everything said about him is adjudged emotive and emotional by many, including those who have no cause to be so. That is why this factory-fresh book, Ojukwu: Exile, Diplomacy And Survival, written by Kanayo Esinulo, the General’s aide in exile is sure to be of immense interest. 

Trial Of Minors: When A Dissenter Criminalises Dissent

By Adekunle Adekoya

For some time now, the detention and arraignment of under-age protesters by the Police dominated conversations at home and abroad.

In August, a nationwide protest against the harsh economic policies preferred by the federal administration led by President Bola Tinubu began, tagged #EndBadGovernance. Largely driven by social media conversations, organisers sought to mobilise the populace to register their displeasure with the way things have turned and are still turning for them. So, August 1-10 was billed as protest days. Before the day, government machinery went into overdrive, with massive resources committed to ensuring that the protests did not hold.

Trump’s Victory, The True Colour Of Democracy

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

On Wednesday, November 6, Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. President, pulled off what, to all intents and purposes, is an extraordinary political comeback – an exceptional feat that has catapulted him once again to the enviable position of the president-in-waiting. On January 20, 2025, he will take another oath of office as the 47th U.S. President.

When Americans went to the polls on Tuesday, November 5, to elect President Joe Biden’s successor, the odds weighed against Trump. Here is a president who was impeached twice during his presidency, refused to accept electoral defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol before vacating the White House and was subsequently convicted of felony charges.

Stop Blaming IMF, World Bank; Nigeria’s Economic Woes Are Self-Inflicted!

 By Olu Fasan

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, and the World Bank have long struck a raw nationalistic nerve in Nigerians. Romantic patriotism drives the nationalistic urge to reject any perceived IMF/World Bank ‘interference’.

*Tinubu

Several years ago, as a magazine publisher, I interviewed Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, then finance minister under General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime, when he stopped over in London on his way to the IMF/World Bank meeting in Washington. I asked him why Nigerians detested the multilaterals. “I think in Nigeria we’ve tended to be isolationist,” he said. Nigerians, he implied, loathed foreign institutions telling them what to do, even in the face of a self-inflicted crisis.

Misuse Of Immunity Clause In Nigeria

 By Tonnie Iredia

Many Nigerian scholars are agreed that a major problem of their nation is that the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 was not freely authored by the people. Rather, it was imposed by the military which had cause at certain periods of history to intervene in the politics of the country.  For this reason, a number of provisions in the constitution are unacceptable to some Nigerians.

However, what stands out clearly as the people’s contributory negligence to the imperfection of their constitution is that many of us further complicate the situation by adding to the same constitution, many unacceptable things that were originally not included by the drafters of the document. A good example is seen in the way many leaders who are not covered by the immunity clause enjoy it without qualms.

Fuel Fiasco As Metaphor For Governance

 By Dele Sobowale

“If they go about solving the problem this way, how many more problems will they have created by the time they are through” -James Baldwin, 1924-1987, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p201, available online.

By any objective measure known to adults globally, what we have on our hands with regard to fuel problem is a fiasco. You cannot ask any of those in control of our fate in this regard a straight question and receive a reliable answer. Two Presidents, the Minister of Petroleum, the Minister of State for Petroleum, the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Debt Management Office, DMO, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, all the regulatory commissions and agencies of government. The conspiracy of falsehood started since the Dangote Refinery was nearing, but still far from, completion in March 2023.

A Revolution In The East

By Obi Nwakanma

Culturally, the East of Nigeria has two things going for it: one is a contiguous and compact geography that is very culturally connected, and the second is a very enterprising and driven population, with no sense, until very recently, of a domineering monarchical spirit.

These hardy republicans, driven by the idea of individual freedom, liberty, justice, the equality principle in which no one is king of the other, and a lack of fear of their destiny and destination, as well as an openness that allows them to cross borders easily; embrace and accept difference even as they preserve what is best in them is the key cultural trait that makes the East of Nigeria very dynamic.