Not So, Mr. President, Nigeria Must First Love Her Citizens!

 By Banji Ojewale

The security and welfare of the people (of Nigeria) shall be the primary purpose of government— The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

*Tinubu

In 1976, the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo sought to stir the patriotic instincts of our young citizens by decreeing the National Pledge into our lives. It must be recited in all Nigerian schools, the junta said. The general’s martial mind given to governing by fiat and force led him through only one route to patriotism: a mental enslavement of the boys and girls through feeding on the pledge would lead, willy-nilly, to their loyalty to the state and its agents and agencies. If they voiced it out many times over the years, their impressionable minds would give way to deeds of loyalty and love for the land, even if they were under an oppressive, objectionable and off-putting government.

Killing Nigerian Economy And Killing Nigerians!

 By Kenneth Okonkwo

John Locke was a renowned human rights activist of the natural law school of thought. He wrote that certain rights, self-evidently, pertain to individuals by virtue of their being human beings. In his words, man entered into a social contract by which he surrendered to the sovereign, not his rights, but only the power to preserve order and enforce the human rights of man. The individual retained the natural rights to life, liberty, and property for these were the natural and inalienable rights of man.

According to him, the purpose of government is the preservation of the lives, liberties and possessions of members of society. He warned that as long as government fulfills this purpose, its law should be binding. When it ceases to protect or begins to encroach on these natural rights, laws lose their validity and the government loses its legitimacy.