Of Hate Speeches, The Nigerian Senate And The Death Penalty Bill

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

Recently, the Nigerian Senate entertained a bill on “hate speech”, the high-point of which is the recommendation of death sentence to any person found guilty of hate speech. I am utterly disappointed that the Senate could at this point in our history be considering such bill even in the face of mounting challenges confronting the country. This is a typical case of treating the symptoms of an illness rather than the root cause of the illness.

*Dr. Arthur Nwankwo 

I am disappointed that life in Nigeria today has become so cheap; that while we are daily assailed by the atrocities of Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram and other merchants of death, that while other countries are removing capital punishments from their statute books; an institution such as the Nigerian Senate is considering a bill to constitutionalize capital punishment. This is a tragedy of gargantuan proportion and it does consolidate the impression among many that Nigeria is irredeemable. 

Selling National Assets To Fund 2018 Budget: Signs Of The End For Nigeria

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
Nigeria is in serious difficulty now as never before. This assertion may not be politically correct but certainly it is empirically correct. Irrespective of your political leaning, truth is that Nigeria is in dire straits. Since Nigeria’s political independence, many people have doubted the capacity of the leadership to take Nigeria to safe shores.

This pessimism is anchored on the fact that some of our leaders, even from pre-independent times, demonstrated obvious incapacity to offer genuine leadership. This leadership deficit was worsened by the forceful intrusion of the military into political leadership of the country; the worst period being from 1983 when Muhammadu Buhari and his fellow coupists overthrew Shagari’s administration to 1999 when the northern-dominated military cabal ran the country aground in a relay-like manner. Nigeria’s economy was irreparably destroyed, and corruption was entrenched as an article of faith in the governance process.

The Resurgence Of Boko Haram Attacks: Implications For the Nigerian State

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
One of the major backdrops upon which the Buhari administration came to power was the promise to defeat or rather crush Boko Haram within the first three months of APC’s government. There is no doubt that the Boko Haram insurgency group has been at war with the Nigerian State for about seven years now. The major reason for the insurgency is to create a pure Islamic Caliphate in the core north of Nigeria. For the insurgents, the secularity of the Nigerian State has become a huge hindrance to the puritanical pontifications of Islam and only the creation of a pure Islamic state would pacify them. For them, western education is evil and a major source of pollution to Islam. 

It was for this reason that the group initiated its earth-scorch policy of annihilating anything in its path to achieving this goal. The result has been the massive destruction of lives and property and crippling of the economy of the core north. The government of former President Jonathan was perceived to have been timid and clueless in containing the scourge of the insurgent group and in the run-in to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, the issue of Boko Haram became an alluring political campaign matter. 

Nigeria: Understanding Restructuring Aright

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

Given the renewed momentum and calls for the restructuring of Nigeria, I am not surprised that it has dominated media headlines both in the one print and electronic media. Recently, I was watching and listening to a programme where the discussants dwelt extensively on the economy and what should be done. One thing that actually interested me was the various suggestions made by the panelists on how to move Nigeria out from the woods.

While the panellists were unanimous in their agreement that the economy has collapsed almost irretrievably, some of them recommended, as a way forward, that Nigerians should go back to the farms; others agreed that there is urgent need to restructure the country. Most of the discussants also dwelt extensively on the importance of restructuring. Even Vice President Yemi Osibanjo called in to make his position on restructuring known, though I find his explanation vague. 

But whether the Vice President agrees with restructuring or not, my happiness is that many highly placed Nigerians, both at home and in the Diaspora, who before now would hear nothing about restructuring the country, have become fiery apostles of restructuring. I have always known that we can never escape the route of restructuring because history is coterminous with the reality that restructuring is the only escape route for countries like Nigeria. In the past 35 years I have maintained this position.

However, it does appear that even when restructuring has become very trending today, many of the new apostles do not understand the full import of restructuring. I want to say for the umpteenth time, that what Nigeria needs now is not a back-to-land initiative (that is good in itself) but an urgent restructuring of the country. My worry actually, is the lackadaisical understanding of this process of restructuring, even by those we may regard as informed. 

Renegotiate And Restructure Nigeria!

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

The conduct of international relations among nations is anchored on the realist paradigm of “might is right”. This is the central thesis of Hans J. Morgenthau's seminal work on Politics among Nations. The motivating factor in relations among nations is the furtherance of their vital and strategic national interests. In these murky waters of international politics, the powerful states relate to other states on the basis of what they consider to be in the best interest of their states. It is in this context that I want to do a brief post-mortem of president Buhari’s recent tour of the United States of America.

*Dr. Nwankwo 

Not a few Nigerians believed that so much would come out of that visit. I am certain by now the reality of the failure of that visit would have disrupted such expectations. Buhari’s visit to the USA was programmed to stimulate a stiff in US policy towards Nigeria. On the cards for discussion was the issue of Boko Haram insurgency. While Buhari lacked words and technical depth to explain the implication of the insurgency to the strategic interest of the USA in Nigeria, a bemused Obama promised that USA and her allies would consider areas of cooperation with Nigeria especially in combating international terror. Back home, many Nigerians went to town with their cymbals announcing that Buhari’s visit would yield much result. Today, we have come to terms with the reality that Buhari went on excursion to the USA, used the opportunity to visit the White House – a pleasure he did not enjoy as a military dictator.

Nigeria: When The Python Danced On A Barb-Wired Fence

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

The recent onslaught by the Nigerian military on Nnamdi Kanu’s country home in Abia State under the curious code name “Operation Python Dance” has once again demonstrated the naivety, ineptitude and insensitivity of the current Buhari administration on dealing with the incandescent ethnic nationalism that has ripped Nigeria apart in the past couple of years. Why this government or any other group in this country or outside would think that solution to the present impasse in Nigeria could be resolved through the barrel of the gun beats my imagination.

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*President Buhari and Chief of Army Staff Burutai

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I have always maintained that Nnamdi Kanu and his Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPoB) is not a threat to Nigeria. Rather IPoB and its leaders represent the manifestation of a beleaguered people desperate for freedom. What Nnamdi Kanu has succeeded in doing is to gnaw at the conscience of the world to call attention to the plight of his people and the need to give the Igbo a better deal in Nigeria. And here I must say that Kanu is not alone in this feeling and factual knowledge of the truth that Ndigbo have become an endangered species in Nigeria.

The precarious situation of the Igbo in Nigeria has been worsened in an age of clash of civilizations when the forces of radical Islam are on collision course with western civilization. Like I have always pointed out, Boko Haram is a philosophy anchored on the rejection by Islam of anything western especially its religion and education. Apart from this warped religious inspired hatred of western civilization, Islam is anti-democratic and does not support the republicanism and gregariousness for which unencumbered societies like the Igbo are known for. Unlike western liberal democracy, Islam does not admit of question on its foundational principles; it regards Christians and Jews as “people of the Book” that must be destroyed at all level. The religion advocates the plundering of the riches of the “infidels”, slashing their throats and binding them as slaves and also compelling them to pay the “zakat”.

Nullification of Kenya’s Presidential Election: Implications for Nigerian Democracy

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
The recent nullification by the Kenyan Supreme Court of the August 8, 2017 presidential election in Kenya has stolen the headlines in both local and international media and has dominated conversations among so many people and groups. While the courage and boldness of the Kenyan Supreme Court is emulative and instructive, one impression that the international media has tried to create is that this is not in the character of African politics- for the judiciary to affect the political process in the manner the Kenyan Supreme Court has done. I agree that this is the first time in Africa where the judiciary has stuck to its convictions and fended off executive pressure and blackmail to deliver what has reverberated across the globe as a historic feat.

In real terms, it is in the character of Africans to expose and distance themselves from evil and deceit. This character of justice and equity is woven into the African psyche and consciousness but was significantly eroded at the behest of alien values imposed on the continent by colonial experience; an experience that has elevated the warped and otiose idea of “political correctness” far and above moral conscience, truth, justice and equity. I am, indeed, overjoyed that in my life time, Kenya, through its Supreme Court has given me hope that African values of truth are still alive; it has pointed the way forward for other African countries; it has shown that our old values of speaking the truth at all times without really caring whose ox is gored can be reinvented; and that being politically correct at the expense of truth and justice is the perfect recipe for the death of nations.

Buhari’s Illness And The Resurgence Of Official Lies

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

The recent uproar and fear concerning President Muhammadu Buhari’s state of health has not come to many discerning Nigerians as a surprise. What is rather curious and embarrassing has been the ostrich and evasive denial of presidential aides and others of their kind on the true state of the Buhari’s health. For one thing, no person should be rejoicing that the Buhari is critically ill; for illness of whatever nature is not a good wish for anyone.

*Buhari 

It is rather disturbing that it took a near fatal medical check-up in London for the President’s men to admit that the President is in critical state of health. His fragile health status has never been in question because Nigerians know that during the 2015 electioneering period, Buhari slumped on two occasions. Ominous and disturbing as the situation remains, one cannot but advise that Muhammadu Buhari should resign from office on health grounds and save the country from certain crisis of succession and constitutional dilemma.

There is no doubt that the present state of President Buhari’s health has imposed a fresh reign of speculation among Nigerians; with government officials demonstrating speaking from both sides of the mouth. Earlier, Nigerians have been told that Buhari was hale and hearty but just yesterday (February 5th, 2017), Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) told us that the President will stay longer in London to enable him complete his other medical tests. The President will return to Nigeria, he said but gave no hint when the President will come back.

Presently, the issue of succession and alleged pressure on Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to resign has become subjects of intense discussion by Nigerians, at home and abroad, raising anxiety despite official assurances that the President is responding to treatment at the London Specialist Hospital in Britain. It is no longer secret that President Buhari was admitted in the hospital for treatment of undisclosed illness. Even in this critical situation, some individuals have narrowly dismissed the patriotic calls by Nigerians for the president to resign. The result in the last couple of days has been a Nigerian government run on uncertainty, gossip, blackmail and useless battles for supremacy. To further put the state ship into more troubled waters, Vice President Osibanjo, in particular, has ring-fenced himself with an air of precaution in his activities in the Presidency to avoid sending wrong signals regarding the present health challenges of the President.

It is assumed that the vice president is expected to perform the functions of the president in the absence of the latter, but the 1999 Constitution states expressly in Sections 145 and 146 how such a role can be performed in the absence of the number one citizen. Section 145 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President. According to Section 146 (1), the Vice-President shall hold the office of President if the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 of this Constitution.

Buhari, Payment Of N5000 To The Unemployed And The Future Of Nigeria

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
The phrase “robbing Peter to pay Paul” is not new to us. It was in 1661 AD that Peter Heylyn in his Ecclesia Restaurata sought to explain the origin and import of this phrase. Though his attempt has been punctured severally by other etymologists, the phrase suggests a calamitous sequence of events where, before the Reformation, taxes had to be paid from the treasury of St. Peter’s church in Rome to defray the running costs of St. Paul’s church in London. At this time, the lands of Westminster upon which St. Paul’s church stood had become so dilapidated and badly run by Bishop Thirlby, that there was almost nothing left to support its dignity. Originally it referred to neglecting the Peter tax in order to have money to pay the Paul tax. In its proper context, this phrase simply means solving one problem in a way that makes another problem worse. 

*Dr. Arthur Nwankwo 

When this type of approach is adopted in managing the economy of a state the outcome is always disastrous especially for countries with teething economic problems. That is what I call casino or lottery economy and no country makes progress in this type of scenario. Even Adam Smith, variously referred to as the father of economics did not prescribe this type of voodoo economics despite the fact that some modern economist have interpreted his economic model as laissez-faire economics because of his insistence that the best policy by which a state can manage its economy was to leave the economy to the free play of market forces. 

Evidently, the interpretation of Smith’s postulations as laissez-faire economics could be linked to his polemics against what he called mercantilism, which was based on the principle of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. One important role of the government in managing the economy is to provide the institutional framework required for competitive markets to function. In other words, a well-structured political system should be able to provide a secure framework for the market system to work efficiently. 

More broadly, the role of the state is to protect the members of society, both as participants in market transactions and in their private lives, from violence and invasion from other societies and oppression by other members of society. A good reading of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations will reveal that although well-functioning markets are good for society, individual producers might well find it in their individual interests to limit competition by entering into “conspiracies against the public”. Therefore, an important role for government is to design an economic system that as far as possible discouraged the creation of private cartels and monopolies. Buhari’s economic management policies since he came on board are deficit on this principle.

I recall vividly that one of the numerous campaign promises by Buhari is that his administration would pay every unemployed Nigerian the sum of N5000 every month as welfare package pending such a time the person will be gainfully employed. At the time the promise was made and now, I have always maintained that this promise is neither feasible nor achievable for several reasons. I have read from the papers that Jigawa state government has slated March this year for the commencement of disbursement of this money to the unemployed and the poorest youths in the State. 

Buhari Regime Is A Complete Disaster - Arthur Nwankwo

Former Presidential candidate and Chancellor of the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), Dr. Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo is not a man of many words. In this interview with LAWRENCE NJOKU, Southeast Bureau Chief, he bares his mind on some nagging issues in the country.

What is your take on President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the last one year?
The Muhammadu Buhari administration has been a complete disaster. I knew from the outset that his presidency was a tragedy waiting to happen. My conclusions are anchored on observable and incontrovertible facts. The first is Buhari’s penchant for religiously implementing a policy of exclusion. You possibly cannot expect anything good from a man, who expressed the desire to run a segregative administration from the very beginning, based on the voting patterns in the 2015 presidential elections.

For him to say on several occasions that his government would treat differently areas that gave his party 95 percent vote from the areas that gave only five percent indicated that he did not and still does not understand what political contest is all about. As far as I know, the beauty of democracy is located in the freedom of the electorate to make a choice from an array of political contestants. At the end of the contest, whoever emerges the winner sees himself as the leader of all and not only of those that voted for him. Buhari has failed this litmus test of democratic inclusion.

Like I have always said about the Buhari presidency, you don’t give what you don’t have. Any discerning person would have identified the ineptitude of this administration from the content of Muhammadu Buhari’s inaugural address on May 29 2015. It is from such address that a focused leader hints on his vision and policy direction in governance. His inaugural speech was empty. I urge you to pick a copy of that address and go through it again. You will be shocked at how drab and uninspiring it was for such a big occasion. So much noise has been made about a line in that address, which said that, “he belonged to everybody and belonged to nobody.” While many of his apologists sought to convince Nigerians of what he meant by that statement, I warned of the deceit and dictatorial import of that comment.

Today, Buhari has taken Nigeria back by almost 40 years and has proven beyond doubt that he is an ethnic and religious irredentist. The economy has collapsed and with it our collective destiny. Insecurity has not abated and poverty rate has tripled. The picture of things to come is gloomy and frightening. Buhari is, indeed, a colossal failure and his administration is a significant threat to the continued existence of this country as a corporate entity.

Could the reasons you outlined be responsible for the heightened clamour for restructuring of the country?
It is instructive that many Nigerians have come to the realisation that the only way for the survival of the country is through restructuring. This is heartwarming. This is what I have canvassed over the past three decades at great risk to my personal safety.
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The Restructuring Nigeria Needs

By Arthur Agwuncaha Nwankwo

It is indeed interesting to see so many Nigerians today talking about restructuring the Nigerian state. This is heart warning on account of the fact that today we have come to appreciate restructuring as a necessity for Nigeria’s continued existence. This is a crusade I began almost two decades ago; a crusade that has taken me to prison and back.

*Dr. Nwankwo

In the course of this crusade, I have had my younger brother brutally murdered in cold blood by agents of the state; I have had my residence turned inside-out by security agents brooding over my massive library like maggots rummaging the remains of decaying carcass. I have been cursed and discussed; scandalized and analysed. The leeches of the Nigerian state are mad; and I am happy. The struggle rages on and that’s just the way I love it. My happiness is that my crusade has put Nigeria on notice and today we are all talking about it.

Even though it is a welcome development that we have been caught by the bug of restructuring, I am afraid not so many of us understand the true essence of restructuring. I say this because in recent times I have heard people talk about merging of states as a form of restructuring. I am afraid this is not restructuring by any stretch of the imagination.
The question is: What type of restructuring does Nigeria need? For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria needs both structural and fiscal restructuring. Structurally, Nigeria must constitutionally define the federating units.

 For now there are six geo-political zones in the country. These geo-political zones should be constituted into the federating units with equal constitutional rights. The states as presently existing make up the zones. 
Each zone will have its own constitution, which must not be in conflict with the federal constitution. The federating units should be in-charge of the zones and LGS. The States’ Houses of Assembly will remain as they are but there will be Regional Houses of Assembly that will function as the highest legislative organ of the region. 

Buhari and the Consolidation of Democratic Dictatorship in Nigeria

By Arthur Nwankwo

Emperor Nero’s emergence as Roman Emperor in AD 54 was greeted with wild jubilation and expectation especially among the plebeians, aristocrats and subalterns. Interestingly, he came on the scene at a point the Roman Empire was burdened by gross internal decay and corruption. Regrettably, rather than address the obvious challenges confronting the Roman Empire, Nero pandered to the absurd by trying to hunt down and silence every perceived opposition against his administration. 

*Dr. Nwankwo

His childhood was moulded by freed slaves— a barber and dancer, before Seneca was recalled from exile to be his tutor. Despite the over-bearing attitude of Agrippina, his mother, Nero grew up a complex character— one who showed little interest in understanding his surrounding; though he tended to pitch his lot with the masses. His tragic family situation, his definitely over-powering mother coupled with what was perhaps a weak character eventually produced a highly unstable Nero. He was an addict to jesting and tended to secrecy. In the course of time his character showed darker sides and unleashed the beast in Nero. His dark sides would manifest in his many crimes like committing thousands of murders including his mother, and abuse of people’s fundamental human rights and practice of sodomy. 

Prior to his emergence, Nero was noted for his limited understanding of social forces that produced his emperorship and this lack of understanding in turn produced a veritable outcome— gross suspicion of the senators and even the praetors. His lame approach to the problems of the empire would re-instigate the several agitations by various segments of the in places like Venice, and Florence.

Patriotic Roman senators and nobles voiced their concern and wondered why Nero should be fiddling while Rome was on fire. Petronius, who Nero had earlier regarded as his “arbiter of elegance” would eventually call Nero “the incendiary of Roman Empire”. Blinded by a rage to eliminate his real and perceived enemies, Nero would go down in history as the monster and evil emperor who fed his people to lions in the Roman coliseum. Though, Nero was condemned by God and by Man, history is generous with instances of the re-incarnation of many Neros in several climes and circumstances.

Over the years, Nigeria has had its own fair share of maximum rulers in the mould of Nero. First was Muhammadu Buhari in 1983, and Sani Abacha in 1995. And today Nigeria is witnessing the re-emergence of another Nero in the mould of Muhammadu Buhari. 

I do not intend to waste my time reflecting on Buhari’s many failures in the past twelve months of his presidency. Failure is part of Buhari’s track record. That he has failed is not surprising to me. If the reverse had been the case, then I would be surprised. However, what is rather nauseating is Buhari’s brazen audacity to entrench democratic dictatorship in Nigeria; and even the warped and mundane rationalization of such criminality by apologists of the Buhari presidency.

12 Months Of Buhari Regime: X-Raying The Comedy Of Leadership Inertia

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

“I am sick and tired of the apologists of the Buhari presidency that keep on asking Nigerians for more time to address the mess which they accuse the PDP of creating. I think, honestly, that this is a lazy man’s excuse. Nigeria’s backlog of problems did not start with the PDP. We must locate the putrid nature of the Nigerian state within its proper context. But even at that, history is generous with the fact that bemoaning the past does not solve the present. I sincerely believe that 12 months are enough for any visionary government to change the direction of Nigeria.” 

*Arthur Nwankwo

In the ancient and sleepy town of Izombe lived a man named Echidime.  Then in his late 70s, Echidime’s compound; dotted by three mud houses arranged in a circular pattern and an obi in the center, had become a pilgrimage ground of sort. On daily basis, pilgrims from within and outside the community trooped to his compound for one form of advice or the other. His wisdom and witty anecdotes were legendary such that Echidime could be likened to a modern day Solomon in the Bible.

On a particular chilly harmattan morning, a middle-aged woman was in Echidime’s obi pouring out her sorrows. Erimma, her 28-years old daughter, had abandoned her matrimonial home and moved into another man’s house. Beautiful, tall and elegant, Erimma had been talked out of her matrimonial home by a man who had promised to turn around her life and take her to the moon. In her husband’s house, she could not boast of riches; she couldn’t do her hair regularly, couldn’t change her wardrobe and do things which her peers married to more affluent men would normally do. But despite these challenges Erimma and her husband got by in the hope that one day things will change for the better.

And now somebody was promising to do all these and more for her. She was not going to let this opportunity pass her by. Her mother’s opinion to the contrary would not stop her. Convinced of the several promises made to her, Erimma abandoned her husband and moved in with this strange man. Six months into this relationship, it dawned on Erimma that she had been fooled; that the bitter kola is not as sweet as its crackling sound in the mouth. She was stock. Erimma’s mother was in Echidime’s house to seek for counsel.

Clearing his throat after the woman’s monologue and lamentations, Echidime looked the grieving woman in the face and simply urged her to go home. “When a woman marries two husbands”, said Echidime, “she will be in a position to know which of the two husbands is better”. Unless a person carries a jar of palm wine, that person may never know the difference in weight with a jar of water.

In Nigeria today, Echidime’s wise counsel is as instructive as it is indicative. Like Erimma, we have been seduced by honey-like promises of the APC; we have abandoned our first love only to realize that we have been duped. Painfully, we are gradually realizing the difference in weight between a gallon of palm wine and a gallon of water.

Precisely, twelve months ago, the APC came to power amid pomp, pageantry and great expectations. Nigerians believed that at last, we have gotten a crop of leaders that would take us to the next level. Nigerians were convinced that a man with the Midas has come to town and that their problems would soon be behind them. Nigerians had every cause to dare hope that their teething challenges would be contained with dispatch- after all had not the APC promised a new dawn. Most Nigerians were happy in the belief that the “messiah” who will take them from the woods to the “promised land” had come. Many also jubilated with the firm belief that the “change” which Buhari and his Party, the APC, promised Nigerians was certainly going to transform the Country.

As a matter of fact, Muhammadu Buhari and APC had made, by the last count, a total of 81 electoral promises in the run in to his presidency. These promises include the public declaration of assets and liabilities by Buhari and his team, introduction of state and community policing, ban on all government officials from seeking medical care abroad, implementation of the National Gender Policy, including 35% of appointive positions for women, revival of Ajaokuta steel company, generation, transmission and distribution of at least 20,000 MW of electricity within four years and increasing to 50,000 MW with a view to achieving 24/7 uninterrupted power supply within 10 years, empowerment scheme to employ 740,000 graduates across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses, creation of 720,000 jobs by the 36 states in the federation yearly (20,000 per state) and additional three million jobs per year, embarking on vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition schemes for graduates along with the creation of a Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme to create at least 5 million new jobs by 2019 and that Churches and Mosques would not pay taxes under national laws, but if they engage in businesses, the businesses would pay tax.