Stunted at 63: Nigeria Needs A Political And Constitutional Settlement

 By Olu Fasan

Perfunctorily, Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary was marked earlier this week. Perfunctory, because it wasn’t a celebration of Nigeria’s success as a nation, but of its mere existence. Yet, the mere existence of a country is not a sufficient reason for celebration, but its strength, stability and progress, as well as the prosperity and well-being of its citizens.

Sadly, at 63, Nigeria is stunted politically, economically and socially. Even worse, as currently constituted, with its deeply flawed political and governance structures, Nigeria cannot escape from the rot. Yet, Nigeria’s political leaders are in denial, playing Russian roulette!

Nigeria: INEC And The Presidential Election Flaws

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

The February 25, 2023 presidential election is a counterfeit of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Whereas June 12 is the freest and fairest election in Nigeria, the February 25, election is the most rigged and most robbed presidential election in Nigeria. February 25, was a brazen and barbaric display of impunity by INEC, which ought to be an unbiased umpire in an electoral contest.

*Buhari

The commission and its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, flagrantly flouted INEC rules, which they made to guide the February 25, election? The BVAS and IReV were successfully deployed by INEC to upload the National Assembly election results, but not for the presidential election result, which was manually collated, thus enabling the INEC staffers to rig the election. Three days before last Saturday’s presidential election, Prof. Yakubu was reassuring all that INEC would deploy BVAS in electronically uploading the results of the election. Why, then, did Yakubu change his mind to transmit the results manually?

Lagos Guber Polls: Attacks On Ndigbo And What Sanwo-Olu Must Do!

 By Steve Osuji

The Saturday guber election in Lagos is a diadem. For Lagosians, it’s probably as big as last Saturday’s presidential tournament, if not more significant. Campaigns have been raging in Lagos , especially in the social media. So have calumny and ethnic brickbats been flying between traditional rivals: Igbo and Yoruba. 

Let it be presented upfront that one of the most underrated and unspoken problems of Nigeria is the ruinous rivalry between Igbo and Yoruba of Nigeria.  

As I have noted in the past, Igbo and Yoruba in Nigeria may be compared to the German and English of Western Europe. Imagine Germany and Britain existing as a country. These are two great peoples (nations) not to be lumped under one umbrella or forcibly forge into a nation. 

Thinking About Bola Tinubu’s Presidential Bid

 By Tony Eluemunor 

You have to make one remarkable concession to Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu; he has “guts”.

And by guts, I mean something akin to resilience or determination. Yes, “grit” could be more like it. Grit actually refers to a hard coarse-grained siliceous sandstone, so it should do justice in describing a politician who is chummy with the “agberos” of Lagos state, yes, those crazy devils may care street goons of Oshodi bus stop and such other mean sites of the mean Lagos state. In fact, from what I have read about Tinubu, he may be the chummiest politician to those goons.

*Tinubu

Yet, the chumminess and the goonness of certain politicians and groups are not what this column set out to interrogate today. It just happens that even goonness should have a limit. So, too, personal interest.

That is why you could describe Tinubu with words such as willpower, resolve, purposefulness and the like and you would be 100 percent right, but if you bring in a word such as courage, you would become a liar.

It’s Not Muslim-Muslim Ticket, It’s Tinubu!

 By Dele Sobowale

“I will be fair to all.” Tinubu, Sunday Vanguard, July 10, 2022. 

That Asiwaju Bola Tinubu opted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket after winning the election primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was not a surprise to me. I expected it, even as I was predicting that he would emerge as the flag-bearer for the APC. Several reasons account for this but they all come to the same thing: Tinubu is an unrepentant Muslim bigot; as I will explain later fully. 

*Tinubu

So, for me, the issue is not Muslim-Muslim, M-M, ticket as such. It is Tinubu at the head of that ticket. In my opinion, he cannot be trusted to be fair to Christians. His words and actions in the past demonstrate the fact that Christians allowing themselves to be lulled to sleep by the illogical statements of Tinubu’s supporters will regret it later. To be blunt; I don’t believe that Tinubu will be fair to all. That is the sort of politicians’ promise which only gullible individuals will swallow. He has never been fair to Christians – except the few who received crumbs from his table.

*First a diversion 

Shettima, Where Did Buhari Stop?

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

It is no longer news that Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 Presidential Election, Kashim Shettima, has recently said that Nigeria needs a new President who would continue from where President Muhammadu Buhari stopped.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) party has woefully failed Nigeria in the last seven years and therefore should be voted out of power in 2023. Out of the abundance of the heart, we have been told, the mouth speaks.

*Shettima

How can Shettima be saying that we need a President who would continue from where President Buhari stopped. Where did Buhari stop, if I may ask Mr. Shettima? In festering corruption? Or, in insecurity? Or, in wooden-headed? Or, in cluelessness? Or, in imposing a corrupt and incompetent ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria on the country?
 
The most significant achievement of the Buhari government in the last seven years is to drag Nigeria into the membership of failed States.

Imagine the most populous and most richly endowed African country joining insignificant countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Myanmar as a full-fledged failed State.