Fuel Scarcity And Failed Energy Policy

 By Cheta Nwanze

On January 18, 2015, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, announced a fuel price reduction that took the retail cost from N97 to N87 and explained that the price drop was occasioned by the drop in crude oil prices in the international market. An incensed Nigerian public that had set high standards for itself insisted that N87 was high regardless, refused to be placated by the price reduction and made sure the Goodluck Jonathan government was voted out, which ushered in the regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.).

Once sworn in, Buhari looked at the country’s vast array of accomplished energy industry professionals, somehow saw himself in their midst and named himself as petroleum minister with the excuse that he needed to personally be involved for things to get done properly. Well, he has been as great a petroleum minister as he has been president.

The Monster Of Child Marriage

 By Kenechukwu Obiezu

In the appalling arrangement of child marriage across Nigeria and the world, those who marry children are as guilty as those who marry off children in what is a grand but grievous theft.

All those who get involved, including all those who consent either by their silence or compliance, are thieves of the worst kind. From girls barely off their mothers’ breast, they steal a childhood, a girlhood, and more damningly, a future.

In the place of innocence, they sow iniquity, and from bodies unblemished by the complications of adulthood, they force out anguished lives. In Nigeria, as in many other countries around the world that have failed to reconcile equity and equality, being a woman is a never-ending battle.

Buhari’s Best Not Good Enough

 By Charles Okoh

The most pathetic people to listen to on the situation in Nigeria are the ardent supporters and sympathisers of President Muhammadu Buhari. They unabashedly regularly stand truth on its head, all in the name of trying to rewrite history just to suit their principal.

*Buhari

Truth is that Buhari remains the worst President ever to occupy that office. They speak of construction of roads, railways and building other infrastructure, as though there has ever been a president who did not do all of that. Is there any president or military head of state that did not build roads and bridges or other infrastructure? Buhari’s eight years, by the time he leaves, thank God, on May 29, would be the greatest disservice any leader has visited on this nation.

Bishop Kukah’s Final Scorecard On Pres. Buhari

 By Rotimi Fasan 

As was the case this time last year, the Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, the Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has again issued a damning score card on the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Kukah has become a consistent critic of President Buhari and of the All Progressives Congress, APC, party-led government.

*Buhari and Kukah

Aside what has become an annual December ritual of assessing Buhari’s performance in office, the bishop has also taken other available, “out-of-season” opportunities to ask searching and inconvenient questions of the ruling APC government.  That he is at it again, just two months to the next presidential election and less than five months before Buhari’s second term in office expires, should be enough measure of his conviction that President Buhari has failed as a president. This on account of his inability to live up to his electoral promises in 2015 through 2019. 

Tinubu’s Chatham House Farce And Attack On Free Press

 By Olu Fasan

About two months ago, I received a call from a loyalist of Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC. The caller, an old acquaintance, asked if I could advise on how Tinubu could secure a meeting with the new British monarch, King Charles III. I was flabbergasted, stunned!

*Tinubu

Okay, I was a UK Government adviser but advising on how a foreign politician could meet the monarch was well above my paygrade. Besides, was he not reading my columns? Did he not know I believed, still believe, a Tinubu presidency would be monumentally disastrous for Nigeria? 

Emefiele Versus The Politicians

 By Andy Ezeani

The full story of how Godwin Emefiele almost abandoned his prime position as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to join the giddy race for President of Nigeria via the overloaded rough vehicle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to be told.   

*Emefiele 

Was he nudged on into a caper and conned along the way? Or was the adventure a true expression of his ambition and spirit of adventure? Whichever one it was, does not really matter. The man is an adult and therefore, takes responsibility for his decisions and actions. In this case, it was his choice to try the APC gamble. For good measures, he gathered the whooping N100miliion purchase of form fee that he threw into the unforgiving APC machine that never returned any money that entered its vaults.

Kill All The Lawyers

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” – William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2

Tamuno Igbikiberebima is an unlikely star in an action movie. He is a lawyer employed with Nigeria’s national hydro-carbons monopoly. On 17 December, 2020, Tamuno was home in Rumuigbo, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, contemplating Christmas in the season of COVID-19 and on his phone in front of the gate into his premises, when a Toyota Camry car pulled up beside him.

From the bowels of the car, a young man emerged armed with what the police later confirmed to be an AK-47 rifle and ordered him into the car. Tamuno had the presence of mind to ask why, to which the young man reportedly responded that his mission was to waste him. Tamuno takes the story from here:

“When I noticed how he was handling the gun, it appeared to me that he is not proficient in gun handling. I told myself that ‘ordinarily one-to-one this man cannot beat me.’ ….When he faced the nozzle of the rifle down trying to cock the gun, I started struggling with him.

A Chatham House Of Horror

 By Don Pedro Obaseki

Chatham House, while trying to repackage and market Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ended up de-marketing itself. While trying, albeit strenuously, to rebrand Tinubu, Chatham House ended up eroding its own brand persona. Its brand equity went bearish, like a bad stock cascading down the index on a bad day on the FTSE or the New York Stock Exchange.

*Tinubu

Tinubu’s handlers not only trashed Chatham House, but also ridiculed the Nigerian nation and her people before the global community. At best, Tinubu’s Chatham House odyssey was a public relations  disaster!

His legendary gaffes got amplified before a global audience that either watched the horrid display on television or via live streaming on the internet. Tinubu’s infamous, yet half-expected comedy of errors turned an otherwise revered platform into a “Chatham House of Horror” or(to bring the adjective closer to home), the “Chatham House of Commotion”.

Political Loyalists: Let Tinubu Be Himself

 

By Tonnie Iredia

Each time I come across a statement by the different support groups and campaign managers of some political parties, I am immediately reminded of certain issues that are yet to change in politics and elections in Nigeria.

One of them is the ease with which the closest sect of loyalists to Nigerian leaders complicate their tenures. It has become the practice for candidates who had during electioneering campaigns rolled out numerous programmes and policies to renege on or deemphasize them once they assume office. 

Reflections On Tinubu’s Drama At Chatham House

 By Tunde Olusunle

Signs that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will run a government by proxy if elected, emerged at his outing at Chatham House, London, earlier in the week. Tinubu, who has made a tradition of avoiding public speaking events in the run-up to the February 2023 elections, jettisoned the Arise Television “Townhall Meeting” organised for the major presidential contenders, Sunday, December 4, 2022. It was the latest in Tinubu’s non-appearance at similar engagements since he won the presidential ticket of his party last June. 

*Tinubu

Last August, Tinubu was conspicuously absent at the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA). Presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the candidate of the Labour Party, (LP), Peter Obi, honoured the invite at the conference held in Lagos. Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, stood in for him. In September, Tinubu was again absent when presidential candidates of all the political parties endorsed the “2023 election peace pact.” 

Tinubu Candidacy And Chatham House Charade

 By Emeka Alex Duru

You would notice that the speech delivered by the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at Chatham House, London, earlier in the week, has been drowned by criticisms trailing his outsourcing the question-and-answer section to his cronies. That is not without reasons. It falls into our position here, some time ago, on the need for the flag bearers to assume their offices and speak directly to Nigerians on their agenda for the nation and how they intend to go about them.

*Tinubu

Our observation then was that the presidential candidates carry on their shoulders the burden of marketing themselves and their political organisations. In other words, they are the faces of their parties, their poster boys. That is why being the standard-bearer of a political party, is a big deal – a contest for serious minds. It demands a lot. To paraphrase Gerald R. Ford (38th U.S. President) the presidency is not a prize to be won, but a duty to be done.

Nigeria: Still On The Same Faith Ticket

 By Olu Fasan

Every well-meaning Nigerian must remain outraged by the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC. Every patriotic Nigerian should be appalled by the utter insensitivity and perniciousness of the calculated decision that belittles Christianity and puts religious harmony and internal cohesion at greater risk in Nigeria. Of course, the issue won’t go away; we will discuss it until next year’s elections. My focus here is the symbolism of the choice. 

*Tinubu and Shettima 

Self-servingly, some have mischaracterised the opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Recently, Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment and spokesman of the Tinubu presidential campaign, said it was about “balance of power”. According to him, Christians feared losing power at the centre if Tinubu became president with Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his vice-president. He said this was misguided because the vice-president “is powerless”. 

Weep Not for Tinubu, But Nigeria

 By Dele Momodu

Call it what you will, what happened at Chatham House London yesterday was a complete charade… The Bola Tinubu handlers fumbled, and bungled it big time… They showcased him like a packaged invalid. It would have been better to present him as a brilliant politician and administrator, warts and all, who’s capable of independent thoughts. No man is perfect. His gaffes would have been more pardonable and acceptable… He was expected to sell his own vision and mission…

Tinubu speaks at Chatham House, London

But what we saw yesterday was a theatre of the absurd. It brought back memories of our great President Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and how he mysteriously disappeared from radar and some of his aides governed by proxy. I was one of those who led the Enough-is-Enough protest against the Yar’Adua cabal in Abuja in 2010. What was unacceptable then is even more unacceptable now with benefits of hindsight. Our country should be placed above friendship. 

Abdullahi Adamu Living In A Fool’s Paradise

 By Charles Okoh

The greatest disservice any man can do to himself is to deliberately deceive himself; thinking he is fooling others. Many years ago, the then chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the late Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, woke up one morning, perhaps filled with an overdose of self-worth and having overrated his party, concluded that the PDP would rule for the next 60 years.

*Adamu and Buhari

Nothing else could have prompted this outburst, other than the fact that he would probably have been too convinced that his behemoth party, the self-styled biggest party on the continent, was doing very well, so much so that it would remain in office for as long as it wished. Well, he and his party members were well alive to realize the tomfoolery in trying to play god or not taking appropriate assessment of the party’s significance, relevance and true worth.

Nigeria: Presidential Debate Dies A Sudden Death

 By Amanze Obi

Nigerians have just come to the sudden realization that the political culture called presidential debate is dead in their country. The death knell for the debate was sounded by Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. 

*Tinubu

Tinubu had declined to participate in the town hall meeting put together by Arise News for presidential candidates. He had a load of reasons for his decision. His campaign office went further to alert Nigerians and other concerned publics that he would not participate in any presidential debate in whatever guise or form.

The organizers of the Arise town hall may not have envisaged this. Even if they suspected that a Bola Tinubu may not be willing to participate in the debate, they may not have imagined that he would put a stamp of finality on possible future appearances. But the debate went on regardless of that. But what turned out as a rude shock to the organizers was the refusal of the audience to accommodate any presidential candidate represented by his vice. 

Why Tinubu Is Cocky

 By Ochereome Nnanna

Of the three main political parties, only the All Progressives Congress, APC, has not openly flagged off its presidential campaign. The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was the first to go in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, while the Labour Party, LP, got going in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

*Tinubu

LP’s Peter Obi is actively and openly marketing himself and soliciting for votes; so is PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, but with much less energy. Tinubu, on the other hand, has been very dodgy. He has only appeared once at a public forum whose atmospherics his party controlled to accommodate his physical and mental failings.

Even when he invited the who-is-who in the business world, he merely read from a prepared speech and could not take questions from his audience. He left his hangers-on to answer them for him while he became part of the audience. Even before becoming president, Tinubu is already showing he will rule by proxy or cabal. He will not lead from the front. 

Nigeria: The Victims Of APC And PDP Reign

 By Promise Adiele 

Isidore Okpewho’s novel The Victims conveys all the soul-wrenching, tragic trappings of conquered people under the scorching atmosphere of polygamy. It would not have mattered much if the tragedy in the novel descended on the reprobate harbingers of flame and furnace, namely  – Obanua and his mother Ma Nwojide. But the knowledge that the tragic whirlwind consumed innocent children continuously pulls at the strings of the heart.

Why is it that sometimes the perpetrators of tragedy are always spared while innocent people bear the brunt of truculent fate? Why should Obanua and his mother Ma Nwojide remain alive in the novel after releasing hailstones which decimate innocent children whose death breaks the barriers of our emotions? It just was not Okpewho’s creation. It is a typical reflection of Nigeria where wicked people write tragic scripts and choose innocent populace as characters. 

Buhari’s Legacy And Tinubu’s Albatross

 By Shaka Momodu  

Fellow Nigerians, it is the season of politics and another election cycle is upon us. Candidates are presenting themselves to the electorate to be considered for various positions. But this cycle is looking more and more like 2015 when men and women, young and old, reasoned in reverse order. All efforts to make them see the danger and demagoguery that then-candidate Muhammadu Buhari represented proved futile. They were deaf to reason and blind to the red flags.

  *Buhari and Tinubu 

Today, we are all experiencing the consequences of electing incompetence dressed in borrowed robes as president. See the mess that Nigeria has become – a tragedy of monumental proportions. In just eight years, Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) have turned Nigeria upside down, a land flowing with milk and honey, has been turned into a famished land. They say once bitten, twice shy, but strangely, many are at it again, eager to repeat their foolery.  

Liz Truss: Lessons For Nigeria’s Leadership

 By Ahanonu Kingsley

After steering the cause of a turbulent United Kingdom economy as Prime Minister, Liz Truss resigned from the exalted office she sought and fought very hard to occupy just some 44 days ago. It’s honourable that she saw the weight of the office, admitted her inability to deliver on the mandate, and resigned. Indeed, it reflected how she valued the nation above herself.

*Liz Truss

But then why did she become Prime Minister in the first instance when she knew she’d resign in just 44 days? Isn’t it a waste of time and resources, considering that the Conservative Party had to organise a long walk of campaigns and debates in the bid to shop for a replacement for Boris Johnson, who equally resigned just two months ago?

Does it not appear to be a calculated scheme to scuttle a candidate who appeared prepared and suited for the role? Erstwhile Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has a more realistic plan that captures today’s UK economic reality. He appeared more prepared for the position he sought and aimed to assume. But what did the establishment do? They whittled his soaring influence, decapitated his chance of winning, and brought in Liz.

Tinubu: Should Nigerians Really Shut Up?

 By Promise Adiele

Nigeria’s god of literature, Wole Soyinka, needs no elaborate introduction. His evident literary flourishes underscore a deep mastery of the English language which he eminently utilises to address socio-political conditions in his native Nigeria and across the world. He has, several times, confronted misrule, urging the economic weary, downtrodden masses to stand up against bad governance and reject the entrenchment of power monsters in the polity. In his globally acclaimed civil war memoir, The Man Died, Soyinka magisterially submits that “the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.”

*Tinubu

By that epoch submission, the Nobel laureate encourages victims of feral exercise of power to speak up and not shut up because death is the comeuppance of timid acceptance of political and economic terrorism. Soyinka’s advice to the populace to speak up contradicts Bola Tinubu’s admonition that Nigerians demanding a new beginning from the present All Progressives Congress disaster should ‘shut up.’ Tinubu, the APC presidential standard bearer, was unmistakably direct when he recently encouraged his audience to tell those demanding a change of government in Nigeria to ‘shut up.’