As Governance Confounds Okpebholo

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

When my attention was drawn to Governor Monday Okpebholo’s “Now, it is confusing me” video, I thought his political enemies were at work aided by Artificial Intelligence. The one-minute, 17-second video captured him stuttering while presenting the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the Edo State House of Assembly.

*Monday Okpebholo

Struggling to pronounce the numerical value of the Bill which he christened “Budget of Renewed Hope for a Rising Edo,” the governor said: “The Edo State 2025 budget… appropriation bill of six billion, sixty and fifty, six hundred five billion, seventy six thousand, seventy six million, seventy six.”

Can APC Learn From ANC’s Loss In South Africa?

 By Dan Onwukwe

Often missing from debates on why a governing party after years or decades in power suddenly failed to win majority seats in parliament or lost outrightly. History of politics offers an array of arguments why this happens in many democracies. It’s about not learning the lessons in power, the hard way.

*Tinubu and Ramaphosa 

Learning the lessons the hard way begins when that gripping listlessness sets in, when political power begins to slip away from a governing party. The endgame begins the very moment the party leadership feels over-confident, and those who surround the President feel their man has got enough power, and don’t need anybody anymore.

The African Sunset In South Africa

 By Owei Lakemfa

The loss of majority in parliament by the African National Congress, ANC in the May 29, 2024 South African elections was a sunset for the continent. It means that the unrepentant Pan Africanist organisation with its vow to the mass of the people and unrepentant commitment to humanity as manifested in its unprecedented war against genocide in Palestine, might be compromised under a coalition. 

*Ramaphosa and Zuma 

The uniqueness of the ANC in   South African and international politics is that it has never really been a political party. Rather, it is an all-comers  movement of people dedicated to freedom and social justice. It is built on a tripod: coalition of people with different ideologies and religions, the South African Communist Party which espouses socialism, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU.  The current President Cyril Ramaphosa is from COSATU.

Why Buhari Must Be Put On Trial!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

As President Bola Tinubu pretends to be providing leadership for our beleaguered country, one question remains unanswered: what to do with former President Muhammadu Buhari. In the eight years that Buhari, a putschist and former military head of state, held sway as civilian president, he destroyed the country, literally.

*Buhari 

In recent times, those who knew he was a disaster in Aso Rock but dubiously claimed that he was the best thing to happen to Nigeria are beginning to sing like a canary. 

Risks And Rewards For South African President As He Takes The Stand At Corruption Inquiry

 By Richard Calland

President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to appear before the Zondo Commission of inquiry into corruption in South Africa comes at a delicate time. A great deal hinges on it. When a sitting President appears before a Judicial Commission of Inquiry it is always a significant moment.

*Ramaphosa and Zuma 

Sometimes a Commission will be concerned with a failure or with misconduct that has taken place under the particular head of government's own watch. But other times, it may be that it is the mistakes of a previous administration or President that are under scrutiny.

Ramaphosa's case is unusual as it is neither one nor the other. The Commission's terms of reference are focused clearly on events that took place while Ramaphosa's immediate predecessor ,Jacob Zuma, was President , between 2009 and 2018. Ramaphosa was elected president in February 2018.

Nelson Mandela Dies At 95

*Mandela: Time To Say Goodbye

One of the world’s most respected statesmen and former South African President, Nelson Mandela, is dead. He died on Wednesday, December 5, 2013, at about 20.50 pm, surrounded by his family. He was aged 95.

In a broadcast shortly after his death, South African President, Jacob Zuma, announced to South Africans: “Our nation has lost its greatest son; our people have lost a father”

Below Is The Full Text Of Mr. Zuma’s Statement:

“Fellow South Africans. Our beloved Nelson Mandela, the founding president of our democratic nation has departed.

“He passed on peacefully. Our people have lost a father. Although we knew that this day would come, nothing can diminish our sense of a profound and enduring loss.

“His tireless struggle for freedom, earned him the respect of the world. His humility, his compassion and his humanity earned him their love

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mandela family. To them we owe a debt of gratitude.

“They have sacrificed much and endured much so that our people could be free.

“Our thoughts are with the SA people who today mourn the loss of the one person who more than any other came to embody their sense of a common nationhood.