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.

Silence In The East

 By Obi Nwakanma

A terrible time has fallen on Nigeria. There is no hiding it. Hunger is not just rampant; it is now an epidemic. There is a food crisis, and it is inevitably leading towards massive national food riots. However, a few weeks ago, a minister in the current government said that there was no scarcity of food in Nigeria. 

Well, I’m not quite certain about this minister, since most of Tinubu’s cabinet is made up of second rate, mediocre, provincial types – but elementary economics theory of scarcity connects with a price theory which is determined by the dynamics of supply and demand. Equilibrium occurs when the rise in supply meets the rise in demand. But disequilibrium happens too. This, when the demand for the resource outstrips the supply, and it leads both to exclusion, and to scarcity.

Cemetery Of Corruption Called Nigerian History

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

There is talk here and there of bringing back History with a capital “H” in the Nigerian school curriculum. It is cool by me to do a short history course with the ruling party, APC, and President Muhammadu Buhari. Necessary lessons need to be learnt before the elections that will lead into the next dispensation of Nigeria’s much touted democracy.

To start back in time, Nigeria’s first coup as arranged by Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Adewale Ademoyega, etc. did raise the issue of corruption as a major prong of why they struck to sack the First Republic.

The entire coup attempt got mired in the corruption of ethnic politics until there was the bloodier counter-coup in which the revenge squad wanted secession, code-named “araba”, until the British colonial masters advised against herding into arid nothingness. Of course, the Nigeria-Biafra war supervened, and after the war, the youthful Head of State Yakubu Gowon proclaimed “No Victor, No Vanquished” and “Rehabilitation-Reconciliation-Reconstruction” that became more fictional than Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

Tinubu’s Muslim/Muslim Ticket Obsession

 By Ochereome Nnanna

The chances are that, by the time you read this article, the major presidential candidates – Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC; and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, would have announced their running mates.

*Bola Tinubu

Of the lot, Tinubu’s matter matters the most. From the distant past when he started developing interest in becoming the president of Nigeria, he has always postulated that a Muslim/Muslim ticket “can work; competence is all that matters”.

If “competence” is all that matters, why not just pick a fellow Yoruba; they also have their share of competent people. Why look for something in Sokoto when you can simply pick it from your Sokoto pocket? But hey, I perfectly understand his situation.

Soludo And The Made-in-Anambra Work Ethic

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

There is palpable fear amongst the serious commentariat in addressing relevant issues because most of the viral news attributed to esteemed personages may have been cooked up by the feeble minds of the fake news industry. Anambra State Governor-elect, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has had many words put in his mouth by these fake news manufacturers.

*Soludo

It’s therefore interesting seeing Prof Soludo while interacting with the members of his transition committee laughing off one of the fibs that quoted him as saying that he would not spend more than N20 million for his swearing-in ceremony.

Soludo cleared the matter thusly: “I have made a wish that not even One Kobo of Anambra people’s money will be spent on the swearing-in ceremony. It is a wish, and I mean it. What are we spending money on? Just a few people coming to the inauguration and witnessing it, then I will open office and get down to work immediately. I do not wish any event, dancers or players and all that. I just want to show up for work, like every first workday. Though it is going to be a Friday, which is the weekend, I’m going to work for over eight hours that day. No ceremony, no event, no party, nothing. Not even 10 Kobo will be spent. So the people who are saying N20million has been budgeted should go and tell us where they will get that money. It is going to be work, work, work, and that is what we epitomize.”

Soludo And The Challenge Of Managing Expectations

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

“She said he made love to her like an intellectual. In the political jargon of those days, the word ‘intellectual’ was an insult. It indicated someone who did not understand life and was cut off from the people.” – Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, p. 6 (1978)

*Soludo

Months before assuming office, Governor-Elect of Anambra State, Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has done a world of service to perceptions of south-east Nigeria and traditional ideas of politics in the region.

Willie Obiano Shines In Governorship Debate

 By Chuks Iloegbunam

 Governor Willie Obiano displayed a sense of purpose all through the debate. He was first asked the nature of the quarrel between him and ex-Governor Peter Obi. He brushed it aside, saying that Mr. Obi was not a candidate in the governorship ballot. His preference was to state his work and his plans for Ndi Anambra. In the course of the debate, the Governor was asked if he could authenticate the story that Mr. Obi had demanded a refund of the N7.5 billion he claimed to have invested in his election. Yes, indeed, the demand had been made but Obiano declined to pay any such money because Anambra was not indebted to anybody on campaign funding. These underscore his clarity of thought on the night.

*Gov Willie Obiano 

The issue of probity was raised. Mr. Oseloka Obaze accused Governor Obiano of selling off dollars “they” had saved for “future generations.” This was the Governor’s masterful response: “First, that’s Anambra’s money. In banking, we call it ‘liquidity management’. You don’t leave an idle fund when you desire to put funds into activities. This guy (Peter Obi) left a debt of N127 billion. Contractors have to be paid. While you are balancing your act, you won’t have money sitting in the bank and you are looking for money to pay contractors. That’s a legitimate transaction. It is not a personal fund. So, in liquidating only $10 million (out of over $100 million) in four years to be able to pay contractors in a recession is good. That’s money management.”