Nigeria: The Road To Hunger Land

 By Adekunle Adekoya

There is a point you get to talking about the problems facing our dear nation that you just get tired. This is because the problems seem endless — from insecurity to unending rise in the prices of goods and services, especially food items, to the parlous state of our infrastructure, especially roads and electricity. In the midst of unreliable power supply, government is bidding to remove subsidy on electricity, which, from where I stand, amounts to making the people pay more for a service that they get just a whiff of.

Right now, methinks the greatest problem that we have to deal with is the growing issue of food insecurity; more able-bodied men are finding it herculean to put food on the table as the prices of staples — rice, garri, yams, beans, potatoes, others are becoming more unaffordable every day. That is in addition to sky-high prices of bread, fish, meat, pepper, tomato, onions and other groceries. But, with regards to food, it was clear, albeit a long time ago, that we will get to this point someday. Just that those in charge of our affairs continued to deceive us and themselves that all is well.

Aisha Achimugu And Folly Of The Nigerian Elite

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Lately, Mrs. Aisha Achimugu has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Of course, she disagrees, having already put a damper on that by telling those who think so to take a swim in a crocodile-infested pond for all she cares.

*Aisha Achimugu

But let us interrogate the issues to determine who is right.

Mrs. Achimugu, an Abuja-based Nigerian businesswoman, clocked 50 years on January 22, no doubt a milestone age worth celebrating for those so inclined. But in doing that, she went overboard, orchestrating an obscene spectacle.

Nigeria: Birthday Drivels And National Celebration Of Inanities

 By Alade Rotimi-John

The provocative and obscene celebration of birthdays by public personages is fast becoming a rude national pastime. The general Nigerian audience has bemusedly endured a siege of insults for quite some time now respecting the intolerable mischief of a lewd and soulless parade of stunts. There is a total extinction of all taste even as the celebrants are vulgar, gross and illiberal.

*Mrs. Tinubu, Akpabio and his wife at Akpabio's 61st Birthday Bash

Aside from the moral contamination incident on the celebrations, their lessons are morbidly and intellectually degrading as they generally present a distorted or superficial view of the sordid Nigerian condition. Many of the ceremonies have laid bare the social insensitivity of the celebrants who are reputedly of high estate. Even as their object is to covet general praise and admiration, they have ironically received in large measure a backlash in contempt and in a free-flowing gnashing imprecations from their fellow men and women.

Nigeria: The Poor Shall Not Die!

 By Sunny Awhefeada

Delta State born gospel singer, Harold Ikuku, re­leased a popular album that was the rave of the moment in the tough and horri­ble years that the 1990s were. The song’s motif is “I shall not die”. Although a gospel song, it reso­nated with both Christians and non-Christians as a result of its affirmative message of survival in the face of brutal economic and psychological assault on the citizenry. 

It was this song that a man sang with so much gusto on hearing of the new pump price of petrol about three weeks ago, the second of such astronomical increase within two months of the present regime. When Presi­dent Bola Tinubu said, in his in­augural speech, that petroleum subsidy was gone, his handlers must have thought that it was a masterstroke in view of the fact that petrol subsidy had become an albatross for the Nigerian polity. 

Akpabio: How Not To Be A Senate President

 By Emmanuel Onwubiko

In 2019, Mr Omagbitse Barrow wrote that many Nigerians have never really thought seriously about the competencies required to be an effective legislator and using these competencies as the basis for selecting legislators and evaluating their performance.

*Akpabio and Tinubu 

He then said that in case you have not reflected on this before, there are five core competencies that every effective legislator should possess that are acceptable all over the world and align with oversight and legislation.

He listed them but I will borrow three which are: character; communication and courage. On character, he argued that legislators as the promoters and defenders of the Constitution and the laws of Nigeria, must seek to be beyond reproach. They must have very high standards of personal integrity and conduct themselves in a disciplined and ethical manner at all times.

Nigeria: Go To Court, Or Go To Hell?

 By Andy Ezeani

It has not been too long ago that Nigerians celebrated the coming into being of Electoral Act 2022, the new body of laws for their electoral system. The Act replaced Electoral Act 2010, on which proceedings in the country’s electoral process had hitherto been anchored. 

The process that eventually culminated in the enactment of the new electoral law was not easy, by any means. The forces that preferred the continued reign of the hitherto existing electoral law, were determined to retain the status quo. The reason was obvious. The provisions of Electoral Act 2010 were more amenable to what politicians want than what the new body of electoral laws was promising. 

Why Doesn’t Corruption Bother Us Anymore?

 By Ochereome Nnanna

The recent disclosure by the Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative, NEITI, of massive corruption in the oil sector under the government of Muhammadu Buhari has gone down the drain without causing the required stir. Neither the Federal Government nor the people whose money was allegedly looted has moved a nerve.

Nigeria has become a desensitised society. It is now akin to a sick person who no longer feels pain in his body. When you get to that level, you are almost dead. Just imagine! NEITI, the Nigerian chapter of a worldwide initiative to monitor corruption and promote transparency and accountability in the oil sector, recently addressed the media and made damning allegations.

Tinubu’s Government: Where Is Nigeria’s Soul, Moral Compass?

 By Olu Fasan

Every great nation is built on a strong moral foundation. No nation succeeds without, as Plato put it, a “healthy soul”, where reason, passion and will drive leaders and citizens to defend their nation’s best interests. Equally, no nation succeeds without a moral compass, without a robust sense of what’s right and what’s wrong.

*Tinubu 
But Nigeria is a nation where might is right, where the powerful can get away with anything. Nothing has exposed the national soullessness and moral-vacuum more than the emergence of Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president and the indecorous manner in which he formed a “government”.

What Are The Governors Doing With The Palliatives?

By Rotimi Fasan

At the end of July this year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a nationwide broadcast that Nigeria had been able to save well over a trillion naira following the removal of subsidy on petrol. This was money that would, otherwise, have gone into the dark hole into which the fuel subsidy went. I think it’s fair to say, in the wake of the unbearable suffering Nigerians have been passing through since the end of May that some kind of support (read subsidy) was being enjoyed by Nigerians.

It was just that the effect of it was very minimal compared to the amount we are told went into sustaining the oil subsidy bogey. The best part of the subsidy money went into the pockets and bank accounts of shadowy players in the oil sector, including oil marketers that are too quick to make Nigerians groan by their Shylock-like ways. 

Akpabio Must Get Serious

  By Charles Okoh

Perhaps, the greatest reason good leadership has continued to elude us is because the executive has consistently cowed the other arms of government into total submission and capitulation. Such that the executive can effectively do without the necessary input of the other more critical arms of government; the legislature and judiciary.

*Akpabio 

Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the legislature and judiciary were reduced to mere appendages and branches of the executive. In fact, Ahmad Lawan’s 9th leadership of the Senate hit an all-time low in that regard. For Lawan, he was even proud to announce to a bewildered nation that under his watch, the senate would never have any reason to disagree with the executive. And that promise was kept until the end of Buhari’s second term. And for that he was rewarded with another tenure at the Senate in a move that would pass as the 8th wonder of the world.

As Tinubu Intensifies War Against The South-East

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

On Monday, August 7, the Senate confirmed 45 of the 48 ministerial nominees sent to it by President Bola Tinubu. Surprisingly, it deferred the confirmation of three nominees – former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai; a former senator from Taraba, Sani Danladi; and a nominee from Delta State, Stella Okotete – because of undisclosed security concerns.

*Tinubu 

Tinubu transmitted the names of the 48 nominees in three separate correspondences to the Senate on July 28, August 3 and August 4, the last list containing the names of Mr. Festus Keyamo, former Minister of State for Labour and Employment from Delta State and Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, a replacement for Dr. Maryam Shetty, whose nomination was withdrawn. Many Nigerians are perplexed at the development because nominees ought to have scaled the security hurdle before coming to the Senate. Does it mean that the Department of State Services, DSS, and other security agencies did not do due diligence?

Nigeria: What Is The Future Of Our Democracy?

 By Dan Onwukwe

This is where our leaders miss it all: A President does not shape a new and personal vision of his country. He collects it from the scattered hopes of the citizens, past and present. This has guided nations that practice democracy every step of the way. It sustains every elected President. However, the question is: why is it that what has guided other democratic nations, and has sustained their democracies failed in Nigeria, and instead, has produced politics of hate and personal interest? 

The answer partly can be found in the fact that every nation is its own laboratory of democracy. As French political philosopher , Tocqueville said, “democratic men are more apt to complete a number of undertakings in rapidity than to raise lasting monuments of their achievements…; they go after success rather fame”. 

Nigeria’s Bow And Lie-Lie Senate

 By Emmanuel Aziken

The recent decision by FIFA to directly pay Nigerian footballers in the ongoing Women’s World Cup tournament their bonuses must be considered a slap on Nigerians and the independence of the country.

*Akpabio

However, for many who consider the FIFA decision as an insult, the brag about sovereignty slips into stupidity after watching the charade officially dubbed the ministerial screening of ministers by the Nigerian Senate.

Senate And The Poor Next Door

 By Andy Ezeani

The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as with most public institutions in the country, hardly gets embarrassed with anything or under any circumstance. Were it otherwise, the upper chamber of the country’s National Assembly would have ended last week with its tails between its legs. It ought to. But that was not so. On the contrary, the lawmaking institution embarked on a bullish pushback against an obvious gaffe that it ought to feel thoroughly embarrassed at. 

*Akpabio and Tinubu

The strenuous effort last week, marshalled by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramola, on the umbrage taken by some citizens at the seeming mockery of the poor on the floor of the Senate led by the Senate President himself, was quite pathetic. Couched in highfalutin language that came across more like a students’ union composition than any purposeful communication from such height, the Senate missed an opportunity to cast a better image of itself. 

In Defence Of Nasir El-Rufai

 By Sola Ebiseni

I had no intention to join the discourse on what many considered the recent vituperation of Nasir el-Rufai, immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, on the ethnic and religious politics of his state which he brazenly extended to the Nigerian federation.

*El-Rufai

I changed my mind and decided to take a look at what he had to say that has generated needless furore when I watched this morning (Monday 12th of June) on Arise Television, the encounter between Rufai and my brother, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele on the politics of the leadership of the National Assembly.

Political Class: Let NDDC Develop Niger Delta!

 By Tonnie Iredia

The oil-rich Niger Delta Region of Nigeria consists of Nine (9) coastal southern states of the country; namely: Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Cross River and Akwa Ibom. The 2006 controversial census recorded for the area some 31 million Nigerians – a figure that would today be about 40 million. What is certain is that the Niger Delta provides over 80 percent of Nigeria’s budgetary revenues and about 95 percent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

Consequently, one would have thought that the area would have on its own merit be at the front burner of Nigeria’s development framework but that has not been so. Instead, the area has been subjected to severe collateral damages caused by the multi-dimensional nature of oil operations thereby completely devastating the environment.

Nigeria: The Challenge Of ‘Judiocracy’

 By Sunny Ikhioya

As the 2023 elections continue to unravel, many of the  participants are already rushing to the courts. So, we will be witnessing what I will like to describe as judiocracy, which means government of the judiciary or the courts. It is different from judiocracy, which is linked to President Putin’s Russia because of his love and practice of the judo sport. Unfortunately, in this kind of democracy, it is not the people’s will that ultimately prevails; some will be elected on simple matters such as judicial technicalities. 

That is the challenge we face as a nation, stepping into another realm of civil rule. If democracy is useful to a people, to the extent that it has been made to accommodate ordinary citizens, and this is lacking in an election process, such a process must be properly looked into and, if necessary, a thorough review and overhaul carried out. Situations where our elections are unable to give us a generally accepted leadership, should be something for all to ponder upon. Unfortunately, the alternative to flawed elections is recourse to the law court.

Towards A Democracy-Sensitive, People-Oriented Judiciary

 By Tunde Olusunle

On Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, 2023, an editorial titled “The judiciary and public criticism” featured on prominent pages of a Nigerian national newspaper. The editorial alluded to public denunciation of certain judgments delivered and actions taken by the nation’s apex court and its leadership. 

Principally cited in the commentary are pronouncements gifting Ahmed Lawan, president of the Senate, and Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, tickets to contest the recent senatorial elections. Such appropriation was done by the Supreme Court, even when both political leaders did not participate in the primaries which would have presaged their emergence. 

Seven Years On: Buhari Has Mis-defined The Purpose Of Govt

 By Olu Fasan

Last week, on May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari marked his seventh and penultimate year in office. With just one year left in power, he’s in the twilight of his presidency. But, judged by what government is really about, Buhari’s achievements over the past seven years are shrouded in dubiety. Yet, he’s deemed such a transformational leader, such a great achiever, to deserve an ism, ‘Buharism’, which the Buharists say is the exemplar, the epitome of good government in Nigeria.

*Buhari 

Recently, during a valedictory session that President Buhari held for his outgoing ministers, Godswill Akpabio, former Niger Delta Minister, spoke for his colleagues: “As we step aside from the Federal Executive Council, I want you to know that you have disciples in us, I want you to know that it is time for us to propagate Buharism.” Buharism? What is Buharism?

2023 And Southeast Presidency: Quislings Beware!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

This is an election season like no other. Everything is defying logic. For instance, how does one explain the fact that when the All Progressives Congress, APC, decided to sell its presidential nomination form at a whopping N100 million, an amount so outrageous in an economy where the minimum wage is N30,000, and many thought the only reason for the ridiculous hike was to scare aware “unserious” aspirants, that was when every Tom, Dick and Harry, joined the fray.

With the latest declarations on Wednesday of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta, in Akwa Ibom, and Dr Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, in Abuja, there are now at least 14 aspirants jostling for the APC ticket.