2027: The Theoretical Case For Jonathan’s Return To Power

 By Olu Fasan

The title of this intervention is hedged with the word “theoretical”. That’s because the proposition that former President Goodluck Jonathan could return to power in 2027 is patently far-fetched and improbable: therefore, although there’s logic to the proposition, it’s purely theoretical.

*Jonathan

Indeed, Jonathan’s wife, Patience, put it unequivocally when she said recently that her husband would never go back to Aso Rock, and that she would campaign vigorously for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu. The bond between the Tinubus and the Jonathans is so strong, Mrs Jonathan implied, that it would be a betrayal if her husband ran against President Tinubu in 2027. 

Demolition Of Obi's Property: APC Crosses The Line!

 By Steve Osuji

Brigandage. Barbarism. Primitivism. Parochialism. Provincialism. These and many more synonymous words raced through the mind when news broke about the demolition of a property belonging to the family of Peter Obi (PO). 

*Obi

This property, said to belong to the brother of PO, former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 elections, which was razed to rubble using stealth instruments of the Lagos judiciary has all the elements and pockmarks of the ruling party, APC, the Lagos State government and indeed, Aso Rock. 

Ikeja GRA is probably the primest (!) piece of property on the mainland part of Lagos. Ikeja is also the administrative seat of the Lagos Government. It therefore stands to reason that every inch of land in Ikeja, especially the GRA area is assumed to be well noted and annotated in the Lagos land registry.

Peter Obi On Lawlessness And Impunity In Our Society

*Obi

"Any society where lawlessness overrides the rule of law is not destined to be a haven for investors. Recent reports showing that Nigeria’s human rights indicators have worsened merely highlight severe shortfalls in government protection for civil liberties, personal security, and basic living standards. 

"I know what I have been going through as a person in abuse of my human rights just because I contested a Presidential election which I have legitimate rights to do. So I imagine what small business owners, regular citizens, and vulnerable communities face every day. If this level of lawlessness can happen to someone with a registered company and legitimate means, what hope does the ordinary Nigerian have?

Half Time: Tinubu ‘Don Fall My Hand’

 By Ugoji Egbujo

In 2023, I cast my vote for Tinubu, eyes wide open, heart half-hoping. Yet now, I confess— he has let me down. I knew it wasn’t the Yoruba’s turn. I saw the arrogance in Emilokan — a brazen affront to equity’s call. Still, I backed him. I backed him after rooting for Amaechi in the APC primaries. Peter Obi was good but his vehicle, I thought, lacked the wheels to roll up the northern hills.

*Tinubu

I chose Tinubu, believing he’d seen it all— bored of petty political squabbles, weary of conquests that consume time and soul, development and country — and could only seek true heroism. I imagined his twilight years, devoted to chasing posterity’s nod, not power’s fleeting thrill, not indulging the likes of Akpabio, Wike and Orji Kalu, not ego tripping.

Tinubu, South East And Dave Umahi’s Good Boy Antics

 By Emeka Alex Duru

I always recall what a friend lectured as the staying power in Nigeria’s politics each time any politician literally dances naked in dramatizing the indispensability of the president. The trick is to be seen as loyal, no matter what it takes and how it is demonstrated. Suspicion of disloyalty, by facts or perception, can be fatal. 

*Umahi and Tinubu

But to be considered loyal, is all that is required for advancement and all that come with it. When therefore you see a politician, especially an appointee shouting himself hoarse in praising the president or governor, he is only trying to keep his job and remain relevant. In Nigeria, politicians are like street hawkers who thrive on traffic. Their fidelity is attached to where their stomachs are nourished at a material time.

Blackmailers And Peddlers Of Falsehood Against Me Cannot Profit From Their Evil Ways

 

By Peter Obi

It's obvious that the biggest business for blackmailers now is talking about Peter Obi from every negative perspective. Even my solemn spiritual trip to Rome has been twisted into yet another blackmail campaign by merchants paid ostensibly to propagate anything negative against Obi.

One such individual, whose entire life revolves around blackmail, falsely claimed that I went to Rome to have a private meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu regarding a purported ₦225 billion debt crisis involving Fidelity Bank. These claims are not only baseless, malicious, but entirely false. 

Is Gov Soludo Envious Of Peter Obi?

By Ugoji Egbujo

President Tinubu was in Anambra. The timing of the visit was ominous. Anambra governorship elections are due in November. Southern first-term governors from opposition parties are defecting in droves to Tinubu’s party. Soludo didn’t defect but a defection might have been more hygienic. Soludo showcased his projects and swore allegiance to Tinubu. Soludo was within his right to twerk for Tinubu, but did he have to spit on  Peter Obi to magnify and enchant the president? 

*Soludo and Obi

The first line of Soludo’s speech was reeked with pettiness. He said that the last time a  President visited the state was in 2021 to commission the Premier Breweries which he called a private brewery project. That Soludo’s preferred hook was puerile.  Some might say it should be seen as political banter. But did Soludo need to introduce that famed line of bigotry peddled by Tinubu’s men in this welcome address to the president to the home of Peter Obi, Tinubu’s arch-rival? 

Soludo: Professors Sans Commonsense

By Steve Osuji

Nigerian professors are giving a bad name to the academia. We grew up to revere people who wear the tag 'professor' as very special kinds.

And as we went through the university, the power and aura of professors on our campuses didn't wane. Indeed, we cherished being under their tutelage.

I encountered a few in my journey through those rarefied corridors of learning. Who would forget in a hurry, Professors Alfred Opubor, Ebun Clark, Alaba Ogunsanwo, Onuora Nwuneli, among others, in the University of Lagos of the 1980s and early 90s. 

But today in Nigeria, everything seems upside down; including the university system and the professors therein.

If a professor is not being goaled for sexually harassing his students - in a most idiotic tango - he's being jailed for helping a rogue politician rig election. 

One cannot understand how our university system crashed so low to the point that professors, even vice chancellors, are co-opted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), into a tacky and highly malleable electoral system. 

A Revolution In The East

By Obi Nwakanma

Culturally, the East of Nigeria has two things going for it: one is a contiguous and compact geography that is very culturally connected, and the second is a very enterprising and driven population, with no sense, until very recently, of a domineering monarchical spirit.

These hardy republicans, driven by the idea of individual freedom, liberty, justice, the equality principle in which no one is king of the other, and a lack of fear of their destiny and destination, as well as an openness that allows them to cross borders easily; embrace and accept difference even as they preserve what is best in them is the key cultural trait that makes the East of Nigeria very dynamic. 

Beyond The Economy, Why Is Tinubu So Unpopular? It’s Arrogance Of Power!

 By Olu Fasan

Recently, Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist and senior vice-president for development economics, wrote an article in the Financial Times urging Nigerians to embrace the economic reforms of their president, Bola Tinubu. “The country’s elites must forge a political consensus in support of these reforms,” he said.

*Tinubu

Like every seasoned policy expert, Gill knows that without a political consensus, no reform, especially a radical one, can succeed. However, what he failed to say is why there is no political consensus in favour of Tinubu’s economic reforms. Yet, addressing that point is, in part, key to understanding why Tinubu is so unpopular, and why few embrace his “reforms”.

Kwankwaso Makes Me Laugh

 By Ochereome Nnanna

“I’m bigger than Peter Obi politically, I’m his elder brother, I’m a PhD holder, I performed better than him when I was a governor of my state. I’ve no problem with deputising Peter Obi, but only if certain conditions are met…” – Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in a recent interview.

Let us analytically examine the above statement, and you will see why Kwankwaso makes me laugh. The former governor of Kano State and leader of the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP, betrays his confused state of mind, egotism and delusion in making this spurious claim. He claims he is “bigger” than Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, during the 2023 elections, without justifying his claim. He cannot justify it because it is a blatant lie. Let us look at the official figures as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Rivers State: Caveat Emptor For Wike

 By Ochereome Nanna

Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, must be feeling on top of the world right now. He has successfully retrieved the structure of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State from Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

*Fubara and Wike 
With the endorsement of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party and the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, witnessed and certified the recent congress of the Rivers State chapter of the party, all eyes are on the Governor to respond in the battle for his own political survival.

Peace Culture: A Book Bola Tinubu Must Read

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

As indicated here last week, the book, Peace Culture: A Monumental Evidence for Global Co-existence, written by Prof Ola Makinwa et al, will be used to shine a light on our offering in this column today. Many have badgered me on why I “ignored” the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest rocking the country.

*Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu 

The protest, now in its eighth day, has become violent and bloody and the security chiefs are still talking tough meaning that it may even get bloodier in the coming days. On Wednesday night, armed security operatives raided the headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Abuja, popularly called Labour House looking for only God knows what. Such raids will intensify as the government tries to overwhelm Nigerians and stifle dissenting voices.

Bayo Onanuga’s Slimy Mud-Bath

 By Ochereome Nnanna

For his own purposes, President Bola Tinubu had delayed the appointment of Bayo Onanuga as one of his spokesmen. Ajuri Ngelale, broadcast journalist and Ogoni chief, was presented to give Tinubu’s media office a handsome, though unsmiling face.

*Peter Obi 

Many commentators were relieved that elements like Bayo Onanuga, Dele Alake and Festus Keyamo would not be brought to irritate the nerves of decent Nigerians with their tawdry, noisy and cheap propaganda antics which we saw during the campaigns for the 2023 general elections in Tinubu’s camp. This feeling was further reinforced when Alake was posted to the Solid Minerals Ministry and Keyamo taken to Aviation.

Unending Weak Political Opposition In Nigeria

 By Tonnie Iredia

After twenty-five years of unbroken civilian governments in Nigeria, one can easily imagine that the country is getting settled as a democracy. But whereas a civilian government rather than a military regime is more likely to be democratic, civilian rule in Nigeria and indeed in several parts of Africa are far from adhering to democratic practices.

 In truth, what obtains in many African countries is authoritarian democracy. The causative factors are many. Poorly organized political parties, prevalent poverty, commercialized politics, election rigging and the tendency for those in power to decimate opponents so as to remain in power perpetually.

Trading Blames, Living In Denial While Nigerians Suffer!

 By Dan Onwukwe

No matter the clouds of controversy that trailed how he won the Feb 25, 2023 presidential election, one year has passed since Bola Tinubu was sworn in as Nigeria’s President. But the manner in which he has governed the country in the last one year still generates intense public debate. The following questions remain top of public discourse: Is Nigeria better now than Tinubu met it?

*Tinubu 

 Are the lives and livelihood of the citizens better or worse  now than before Tinubu came to power? And how will history judge him and the policies he has implemented in the last one year ? Of course, opinions  differ, but the general consensus is that history will not be kind to most of the policies that he initiated unless he changes course. On that score, it’s not unkind to say that his administration still carries more baggage than an ocean liner. 

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.

Government Of Lies, By Liars And For Liars!

 By Kenneth Okonkwo

On 1st March, 2023, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at about 4:30am, while most Nigerians were asleep, proclaimed Bola Tinubu as winner of the presidential election held on the 25th of February, 2023, in apparent disregard of the laws and rules of collation of results which he made for himself and for INEC.

*Yakubu and Tinubu

He even boasted that there will be a big television screen revealing the electronically transmitted election results for the whole world to see to confirm and corroborate the manually collated presidential election results which he will be announcing. He failed woefully and deceitfully announced presidential election results without following due process he made for himself, and blamed technical glitch for failing to obey the laws. Till date nobody has been held responsible for the glitch that purportedly occurred that day. The people in charge of the systems then have been said to have been handsomely rewarded with promotion.

Is Dave Umahi Also Igbo?

 By Ugo Onuoha

Yes, he is. A bonafide Igbo for that matter. After all, he was a two term governor of Ebonyi, one of the five states in the south east of the country. And south east is the core of the Igbo nation. It really does not matter that some elements in Ebonyi state do not really see themselves as Igbo. 

*Umahi and Obi 

There are many dialects of the Igbo language. Sure. But there is something common in the dialects- almost all Igbo people understand and comprehend themselves no matter the dialect they speak. However, there is a particular part of Ebonyi state who, when they speak their dialect, the typical Igbo person from outside their community will never make out any meaning from their words. This assertion is not designed to exclude or make any part of the south east less Igbo. 

David Umahi: When Envy Rules Our Politics

By Ike Abonyi 

“It’s in the character of a very few men to honour without envy a friend who prospered.” – Aeschylus

*Umahi and Obi

Envy and jealousy drive political rhetoric in Nigeria, particularly among handicapped Igbo politicians. David Umahi, the former Ebonyi State Governor and current Minister of Works, has been mistaking envy towards Peter Obi, the Labour Party's presidential candidate for normal political behaviour. The minister's recent outburst against Ndigbo is a desperate and disingenuous effort to impress his political allies and gain favour from the Aso Rock Villa.