Nigeria In Disarray: Waiting For Damnation

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu  

This Fiction Called Nigeria: The Struggle for Democracy by Adewale Maja-Pearce; (Verso, UK, 6 Meard Street, London; Verso, US, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York; 2024; 185pp) 

Adewale Maja-Pearce does not pull his punches in his prolific engagements in public intellectual pugilism. He packs quite a punch, and comes strongly recommended by such eminent worthies as Jeremy Harding of London Review of Books who writes thusly: “Adewale Maja-Pearce is Nigeria’s most dependable journalist.” 

There is no denying the fact that Nigeria as a country is in dire straits. It is as though Africa’s most populous nation is forever thrust in suspended animation, especially after the heavily flawed 2023 presidential elections. Incidentally, Adewale Maja-Pearce starts out with these words: “This book was written against the background of the 2023 elections.” 

Dangote Refinery Is Here; Why Are We Unhappy?

 By Dele Sobowale

“I am beginning to wonder how many fools it takes to make the term ‘My Fellow Citizens’” -Honore de Balzac, 1799-1850, in LOST ILLUSIONS

You were probably one of those who eagerly awaited the completion of the Dangote Refinery while labouring under the illusion that it will crash the price of fuel nationwide. Welcome to the unpleasant reality. Underlying that self-deception was the un-stated but implied assumption that Alhaji Dangote was embarking on a venture designed to free Nigeria from fuel importation. Well, “when you assume, you make an ass of you and me.”

Gullible Nigerians, especially many media commentators, had committed the blunder of forgetting that Dangote is a businessman caught in a global race for position among the world’s richest people. He went into refinery primarily to make as much money as he can; and stopping fuel importation is a distant second objective – except that securing a monopoly of the domestic fuel supply would help achieve the ambition.

Restructuring: Emir Sanusi Misspoke On Regionalism, Parliamentary System

 By Olu Fasan

There are two forces contending for the future of Nigeria. One is the force of change and progress. The other is the force of conservatism and status quo. The former argues that Nigeria’s political and governance structure is deeply flawed and not working, and that Nigeria must be restructured to make progress.

*Sanusi 

The latter posits that there’s nothing wrong with Nigeria’s structure; so, there’s nothing to restructure. If anything, it submits, what Nigeria needs is good leadership, as if there is any serious country that puts its faith solely in the goodness of a leader and not in the robustness of its institutions, particularly the constitution, which is the central determinant of how a country is governed. 

Zik’s Day Beckons!

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu 

The man fondly called Zik of Africa deserves his day. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s foremost nationalist and first president, deserves his birthday, November 16, to be slated as a national holiday.

*Azikiwe 

It is a deserving honour for the pivotal leader who led the charge for Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960. 

As a result of his unparalleled efforts Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe would in the course of time become the only black Governor-General of Nigeria, the first President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the only Nigerian whose name appeared in a Constitution of Nigeria, the first Senate President, among many other sterling firsts. 

Igbo Day: Think Again

 By C. Don Adinuba

There is so much the Igbo can celebrate about themselves. Take their brilliant performance in education which is phenomenal. Whether in the West African School Certificate examination or the Joint Admissions Matriculation examination or the entrance examination into Federal Government Colleges or into the Federal Government-owned School for the Gifted and Talented in Abuja, the story is the same. Even in global educational competitions, the Igbo are outstanding.

This is by no means fortuitous. By 1945 when the Second World War ended, there were a handful of Igbo graduates because the Igbo live in the interior; the Europeans who brought education to Nigeria came through the seas. Yet, within 20 years the people had begun to compete effectively with the Yoruba who had a historical advantage of over half a century over them in terms of higher education; the Yoruba have towns like Badagry and Lagos which are on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. By  1965, the Igbo had, as Chinua Achebe put it in The Trouble With Nigeria, ”wiped out their educational handicap in one fantastic burst of energy”.

Peter Pan: A Giant Departs The World

 By AbduRafiu

A leader and a giant in the world of journalism has discarded his earthly cloak and departed earthly life. He is Peter Enahoro more known as Peter Pan. The news of his exit has reverberated around the world. His was a distinguished career in journalism.

*Peter Enahoro

He joined the Daily Times in 1955, after leaving school, Government College, Ughelli, armed with love of reading and mastery of English language. And fearlessness. He rose rapidly and became the editor of Sunday Times in 1958 at 23, the editor of ubiquitous Daily Times in 1962 in succession to Alhaji Babatunde Jose at the age of 27.

Toxicity Of Tinubu’s Lagos Politics

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

As I reflect on the happenings in Lagos State since the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections, I cannot help but see the spectre of the 1994 Rwanda genocide unfolding before our very eyes. In the years leading up to the 1994 genocide, the Hutu-led government used all its propaganda machinery to spread bigotry and hatred against the Tutsi, painting them as a threat to Rwanda, exactly the same way a section of the Lagos community is inciting hatred against Ndigbo, portraying them as enemies of the Yoruba.

*Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu in Landon
“For genocide to occur,” Kennedy Ndahiro, Rwandan journalist wrote on March 13, 2014, “it must be preceded by the dehumanisation of a group … dehumanisation removes the individuality of a person. There is no difference between the group and the individuals. When done well, pity for the 'other' becomes impossible and extermination becomes the natural next step.”  In the last three weeks, Ndigbo have been grossly dehumanised in Lagos. They have been portrayed as ungrateful migrants – never mind that they are Nigerians – who want to appropriate Yoruba heritage. 

A Toast To Odia Ofeimun At 73

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

There is no better way of introducing Odia Ofeimun than pointedly stressing that “Odia Ofeimun is Odia Ofeimun!” Enough said. 

*Ofeimun

Poet, publisher, editor, activist, polemicist, mentor, politician, columnist, factory worker, writer, dance-drama exponent, public intellectual, critic etc, Odia Ofeimun has packed uncountable lifetimes into one tumultuous lifespan. 

Igbos Earned Their Lunch In Lagos!

 By Femi Olufunmilade 

Lagos has been a cosmopolitan, global destination with a modern seaport at Apapa since the mid-1800. It became a Crown Colony in 1861. I did a research for the Nigerian Customs, went into the Federal Archives at the University of Ibadan and discovered records of the Customs Administration of Lagos since 1877. Could have been earlier. 

Lagos was developed by people from diverse parts of the world. The British contributed their bit, ditto indigenous people, as well as other West African groups like Dahomians, Ghanaians, Togolese, etc. From within Nigeria, you have early settlers like the Bini, and the Tapa, and returned slaves from Brazil and Sierra Leone, and, by the early 1900s, the Igbo began to flock in. Later, the Lebanese came, followed by the Indians. All of these groups have made Lagos what it is before BAT came out of his father’s crotch, whoever he is. 

Nigeria: Steal The Election And Let Them Go To Court

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

Any ruling party can make even a goat win an election. The only exception to this great truism is Goodluck Jonathan who lost his baton. Nigeria had a much-ballyhooed presidential election on February 25, and there is not much to report except that the election was bought and sold. 

Any talk of the elections being free, fair and credible belongs to fiction. The election result was declared at the ungodly hour of 4am, and losers in the contest were asked to go to court. It’s a well-worn mantra – steal the election for me and tell the opposition to go to court very fast. 

Peter Obi: Proving Possibility Of A New Nigeria

 By Ike Chioke

When the storm of this general election is over, we shall be left with a few lessons. One is, never underestimate the will of a determined people. The other is, when the shepherd is ready, the flock will appear. 

*Peter Obi 

Indeed, people, who study politics and societies in transition, will find a fascinating new model in Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate. In a continent wracked sore by leadership challenges, Obi’s emergence represents a rupture in the dynamics of power and the socio-cultural alignments of the Nigerian society. Never has an outsider from the power calculus staged such a storm-trooping stunt in Nigeria’s political history. This is a watershed in our political memory.

My Journalism Journey By Ray Ekpu

*Ray Ekpu 
Permit me dear readers to stray away from the current happenings such as the petrol palaver and the naira redesign nuisance, both of which have shown the world how badly we run our lives. The excuse for choosing to write on my journalism odyssey today is the recent conferment of a Lifetime Achievement Award on me by one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers, Vanguard.

This is my fifth lifetime achievement award, two of which came from non-media outfits while the other three including this one came from media organisations. A few years ago I received one from the Nation Newspaper in Kenya when it marked the 50th anniversary of its existence. A couple of years ago I was also honoured with the award by Diamond Media run by one of the respected journalists in the country, Mr Lanre Idowu.

Protecting The New Coup From Heaven

 By Pat Utomi

The current travails of our country are legion, from pain beyond what is reasonable to expect at petrol stations to physical fight at ATMs; the fuel scarcity and currency change processes are eroding our humanity. Add to these the gripping poverty which has been weaponized by the traditional political parties for vote buying, voter suppression and ‘incentives’ to vote for parties and candidates so undeserving of a seat at the table of public life, the season of discontent in Nigeria seems so grim and dark.

*Utomi

Add to this corruption that cries to high heavens for the wrath of God, insecurity so threatening and inflation that literarily wipes out income of those who desperately need it because they are so deep in water, that, as Tawney’s metaphor points out, even a ripple can disown them, and for the need for a citizen crystalizes as the imperative of the moment.

Letter From Emeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu

 By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

If you had any doubts about the authenticity of this letter, let me assure you that I am still involved, very involved in all that you do, and experience in our beleaguered country, especially with the stupid wanton killings in the southeast, by unknown gunmen, the ubiquitous Fulani herdsmen, Eastern Security Network and the Buhari-government-outlawed-IPOB. And we are deeply upset hereabouts. Not even in the period preceding the 1967 conflagration did the nation witness so much brutality, hopelessness, uncertainty, and poverty. It is unbecoming of a nation so blessed with natural and human resources!

*Ojukwu 

How are you all? We know things are not rosy. The entire world is currently in a turmoil. Poverty and hunger are real. Indeed, Nigerians are coping better with the economic hardship than Europeans who have lived a life of luxury. Else, how do you account for a worker on a 30k monthly salary still paying school fees for three kids and feeding once a day and still smiling to church or the Mosque? It is not a happy thing. No, not a happy situation.

Learning About Ndi Igbo

 By Patrick Dele Cole

(Book by Agunze Chib Ikokwu Foundation)

One thing is clear about the Igbos, by whatever standards there are, they are a remarkable people, strong in will, great in achievement, and undeterred by difficulties.

What is it that has produced these remarkable people? What keeps them going? How do people enhance their self-awareness even amidst open hostility, jealousy and outright discrimination? It would seem as if the harder the other people in Nigeria beat them, and discriminate against them, the more successful they become.

This book gives a peep into the complexity of what makes the Igbo character. It starts from a very simple assumption, that education is a key component of development. Education fosters tolerance, but it may also foster bigotry, and when you take people eager to be educated, eager to change their positions in life, eager to find the world, to leave the world a better place than they found it, that inspires.

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 

Is Goodluck Jonathan A Beautiful Bride?

 By Ray Ekpu

The crowd that is chanting Run, Jonathan, Run is a composite contingent made up of greedy and hungry fellows, rented fellows, political flunkeys of the basest type and those who think that Nigeria may be ready for any kind of political tomfoolery at this time.

*Jonathan 

Ordinarily, a man who had risen from the position of a Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President to the apex of his country’s administration, the presidency, ought to be happy that he had done, without being harmed, a marathon that most Nigerians only dream about.

In that case, he would be expected to play only the role of a statesman who would seek to contribute his ideas to the resolution of his country’s and continent’s existential problems, some of which had haunted his country since the days that he grew up in his village without the adornment of even the cheapest pair of shoes. Now he is in a position to acquire the most expensive pair of designer shoes ever made.

Pastor Tunde Bakare And The Lies Of A Failed State

 By Chuks Iloegbunam 

Pastor Tunde Bakare of The Citadel Global Community Church recently spoke through his hat while preaching a sermon. He told his congregation that, during the January 15, 1966 military action that toppled the First Republic, the soldiers that took Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa removed his turban, poured wine on his head and force-fed him with the alcohol. For abominating him, Balewa, just before he was shot, pronounced a curse on Ndigbo, to the effect that no one from the ethnic group will ever bear rule over Nigeria. Mr. Bakare’s story, fanciful as it sounds, is a pack of lies. This article, therefore, is to educate Mr. Bakare and others of his misguided persuasion with the truth, of which Jesus, the Christ said in John 8: 32: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” 

*Awolowo, Azikiwe, Balewa

 

On the mundane level, no one removed any turban from Sir Abubakar’s head. The turban is a headdress. Soldiers invaded the Prime Minister’s official residence at around 3am, when the man was in bed. Did he sleep turbaned? Do people sleep in their headdresses? Apart from that picture in which presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari appeared in suit and tie, wearing a wan smile and looking almost comical with his receding hairline, there hardly is another photograph of the man in which a cap does not adorn his head. Would his traditional fondness for full dressing gear ever mean that he went to bed in a hat? Do women sleep with all those accessories they routinely assembled on their heads for public events? Tafawa Balewa’s turban was not removed because he wasn’t wearing one when his adversaries closed in on him.

Biafra, Or An Oasis Of Prosperity?

 By Obi Nwakanma

 Let me be on the record, and say that I align myself ideologically with those who seek the right to self-determination as a fundamental human right. This right is enshrined in the charter of the United Nations of which Nigeria is a signatory.

*Odumegwu-Ojukwu taking the oath of office as Head of State of Biafra

These facts are so clear that it begs the question, why is the Nigerian government persecuting, and criminally violating the rights of those like Nnamdi Kanu who has devoted his life to the pursuit of what he sees as his right to be free of the Nigerian enterprise? The answer is: the word, “Biafra” gives Buhari and his ideological fellow travellers the excuse to wallop the Igbo.

From Wild, Wild West To National Inferno!

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

A seemingly innocuous spark in an otherwise isolated part of a nation can change the course of history. 

Nigerian history as we have it today owes its shape to the handling or mishandling of the Action Group crisis of the early 1960s. The initial crisis led to a chain of events culminating in the Nigeria/Biafra war and the deeply polarized and wounded nation such as we have today.

*Awolow, Azikiwe, Balewa

“May you live in interesting times,” is a twice-told charge; and thus Chief Simeon Olatunde Oloko found himself through forces beyond his control to be in the epicenter as a witness of the events that reshaped Nigerian history. Born at Agodi in Ibadan, the author who studied at the esteemed London School of Economics and Political Science, and was called to the bar of Inner Temple in 1958, served as secretary of the pivotal Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) from the vantage point of which he lived through the manifold crises that bedeviled the old Western Region and Nigeria.