Nigeria: Fall Of Democracy!

 By Kenneth Okonkwo

President Barack Obama said, democracy will win if we fight for it. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of American democracy, arose from a meeting with his colleagues, where they deliberated on the preferable system of government for America, and was questioned by a woman outside the meeting to reveal to America their choice. He quipped, we have a republic, if you can keep it. Eternal vigilance is the price to pay for democracy, certainly not a fall. 

Democracy is worth fighting for, it’s not worth falling for. The reason democracy is failing in Africa is that the people who ought to be the fighters for democracy, are busy falling head over heels for the crumbs that fall off from the table of these half baked, incompetent and corrupt leaders. So nauseating is the level of sycophancy that even the leaders now make a joke when they fall that they were doing obeisance to democracy.

June 16, 1976 Soweto Uprising: The Pains, Gains And Failure Of African Leadership

 By Omawumi Evelyn Urhobo

As South Africa commemorates this year’s June 16th, the 47th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, and as a Nigerian who was directly involved in the struggle, I can’t help but put down my few thoughts about this momentous event.

On June 16, 1976, the student protest in the township of Soweto against the apartheid regime started. This agitation would soon become known globally as the Soweto Uprising. This uprising by the students protesting the injustice of the Apartheid Regime was, of course, more than ever before, met with the usual bestial and brutal resistance by the Apartheid Regime.

June 12: President Buhari’s Left Handed Charity…

By Obi Nwakanma

Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria, announced on Wednesday, that June 12 will now be “Democracy Day.” He went further to award posthumous honours to the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 elections, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, with the GCFR, the highest political honour in the land, and his running mate, Babagana Kingibe, the second highest honours, the GCON. To top the gravy, he also honored the late Gani Fawehinmi with the GCON too.

*Buhari 

Quick as the announcement came, there were various reactions. Not unexpectedly, many from the Southwest of Nigeria, particularly the partisans of the APC, began to call Buhari the “new progressive.” Mr. Ahmed Tinubu in fact did gush so much that he came short of describing Buhari as the greatest democrat of Nigeria’s modern history. This is not unexpected, because Buhari’s gesture fits into the logical interest of the APC partisans of Southwestern Nigeria. And I shall return to this. But the president’s gesture was quickly called into question – the legality of it: first from the senate, came a flurry of tongue-in-cheek statements.

Under Obasanjo’s Watch

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo released his autobiography, My Watch, on Tuesday, December 9 at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

President Jonathan and Obasanjo 

He defied an Abuja High Court order obtained by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Buruji Kashamu, barring him from releasing the book. Rather than obey the order, Obasanjo wanted Justice Valentine Ashi sanctioned.   The judge had ordered that the book launch be put on hold over claims by Kashamu that the three-volume series contained details of a libel case involving a drug trafficking allegation Obasanjo made against him, which is already before the court.  Obasanjo’s excuse that the book had been published before the order was made is as ludicrous as it is bizarre.

But that is quintessential Obasanjo, who has no respect for others, who revels in desecrating hallowed institutions.   Holding him in contempt of court, Ashi on Wednesday, December 10 gave him 21 days to demonstrate why he should not be punished for publishing the book.  

“The fact that the book was published in November is irrelevant. As long as the substantive suit is not yet determined, no party is entitled to publish or comment on material facts that are yet to be decided on by the court,” the judge said.