How 2023 Will Affect Nigeria’s Political Stability For Decades

By Olu Fasan

Nigerians, it seems, have moved on from the political events of 2023. Some are already talking about, others planning for, 2027. But the thoughtful and perceptive will not easily forget 2023. For the events of that year will have far-reaching consequences that could unsettle Nigeria for decades. As someone who is heavily invested in Nigeria’s political development, my concern here is how the events of 2023 could deepen Nigeria’s instability, while hoping an alternative aftermath would avert that dreadful political trajectory. 

For a start, following the Supreme Court verdict, Bola Tinubu is now the de facto and de jure president of Nigeria, leaving aside the philosophical question about the nature of his mandate. However, his presidency sets Nigeria on an unstable political future on two key fronts, both regarding the management of Nigeria’s diversity. This may not matter now, it will at some point. But before we come to that, there’s the more imminent problem of the 2027 presidential election. In one sense, 2027 will be like 2015; in another, it won’t. In both senses, 2027 will be acutely challenging. Here’s why.

An Airport For Chinua Achebe

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

There is a Chinua Achebe International Airport in Anambra State. It was a spectacular masterstroke from Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo when he renamed the Anambra Airport at Umueri after Chinua Achebe. 

*Achebe 

The ovation that Soludo got when he made the announcement in his speech at the 63rd Nigerian Independence Anniversary which took place at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, on October 1 was thunderous and long-lasting. 

Why Do Nigerian Governors Swear Allegiance To The President?

 By Olu Fasan

This is a subject I have long wanted to address. It first caught my attention when I watched the inauguration of Professor Charles Soludo as governor of Anambra State in March 2022. As he recited the oath of office, I was struck by how many times he mentioned the words “Federal Republic of Nigeria”, “President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” and “Federal Government of Nigeria”, while he only directly mentioned “Anambra State” once; yes, once!  

*Tinubu meets governors 

The words quoted above, bar Anambra State, are in the governor’s oath set out in the Seventh Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. For instance, it says a governor must exercise the authority vested in him “so as not to impede or prejudice the authority lawfully vested in the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, and “so as not to endanger the continuance of the Federal Government in Nigeria”. It goes on: a governor must “devote” himself “to the service and well-being of the people of Nigeria”. Really? Why?

Dokpesi: A Broadcast Exponent Stages A Final Show

 By Okoh Aihe

Today, Dr Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi will return to Agenebode with his friends. The big boys who have been with him most of his life, the crème de la crème of the society with the incandescent stars, the ordinary folks of the society for whom he had so much love, having struggled up from extreme poverty himself, his professional colleagues – the marine engineers and broadcasters, who cheered him on as he broke new grounds for their industries, and the Dokpesi family, which is quite large; they will gather in Agenebode for a grand exit party that will do their son good.

*Dokpesi

I don’t know whether Sunny Ade will be there, the grand musician with electric feet and even electric fingers as he commands the guitar into entertaining obedience. He loves Jimmy Cliff too and remains one of his early friends as well. Agenebode will receive big people from government, businesses and even the entertainment industry, such as had never been witnessed in the history of that beautiful town by the River Niger,  in honour of a son that has planted their name firmly on the global map. 

The First Fruits Of A Crooked INEC

 By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

Evidence of the scope of the mess created by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Mahmood Yakubu began to emerge this past week. It all suggests network egregiousness on a monumental scale that easily rivals the elections of 2007, until now seen as the nadir in Nigeria’s journey of elective governance.

*Yakubu

As the National Judicial Council (NJC) released the names of the 257 judges who will sit to consider and decide on elections petitions around the country beginning in May 2023, it emerged this past week that so far 1,044 petitions have been filed against results declared by the INEC in the 2023 elections. That is already more than 70% of the 1,490 seats contested and it appears that these are not the final numbers.

Fascists? Look No Further Than The Ruling Party

 By Olu Fasan

As a creative writing scholar at Oxford University, I have been reviewing the legendary literature Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka’s latest book Chronicles from the land of the happiest people on earth. Reading the book, a political fiction, I’m enthralled by its linguistic and literary quality. Imagine my bafflement, therefore, when Professor Soyinka recently used the word “fascistic” to describe Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of Labour Party in February’s presidential election.

What drew Professor Soyinka’s ire was Dr Baba-Ahmed’s controversial interview on Channels TV. “Whoever swears in Mr Tinubu has ended democracy in Nigeria,” he said, adding: “Mr President, do not hold that inauguration. CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria), your lordship, do not partake in unconstitutionality.” Baba-Ahmed argued that Bola Tinubu “has not met the requirements of the law”, having failed to secure 25 per cent of the votes cast in Abuja.

Nigeria: The Followership Has Failed Us again, How Sad!

 

By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“Some praise at morning what they blame at night.
But always think the last opinion right” – Alexander Pope

They make the fantastic promises of the weaver bird, exude the sinister smile of the hyena, with the embrace of the gorilla, while executing the dizzying dance steps of the monkey, at the sight of bananas. As far as their own erroneously perceived Nigeria is concerned, the end justifies the means. Call it the Machiavellian doctrine; it does not matter to them.

Truth be told, what engages their mind most is the lure of the lucre-filthy or not. So, they kowtow to it, raining insults and innuendoes on anyone who has a different opinion to that of their paymasters. And that includes their townsmen, brothers, sisters, friends or associates. What a crying shame!

No Adesina, Bishop Kukah Is Not Your Mate

 By Charles Okoh

Femi Adesina is shameless. To think that he is even a supposed cleric makes him even more shameless. Only a shameless man would make bogus claims and with a straight face still insists that the gibberish he spews forth is the truth.

*Bishop Kukah and Femi Adesina

Personally, I had resolved not to react to whatever Adesina or those who are media minders of President Buhari say, because it’s obvious that they have completely made a mess of whatever their assignment is and inadvertently done a great deal of disservice to their floundering principal.

Individuals, Not Parties, Will Decide The 2023 Elections

 By Ejike Anyaduba

It is becoming evident by the day that the February 25, 2023, elections will be decided by factors other than party affiliation. Psychological attachment of voters to parties may have some influence on the run of victory, but will do little to help its cause. The strength of victory will be decided by a contestant’s convincing power, his performance rating, diligence and the subtle manner in which he handles the people’s emotions in this trying time. 

More than that, the performance of each candidate will be a factor of perception and of grace that transcends mundane efforts.  Yes, it will be a tough election, and it is already bearing signs of disruptive change that may leave the self-assured vacuumed of confidence and grossly diffident.  

Politics Of New Naira Scarcity

 By Sola Oni

On Thursday, February 2, 2023, during a zoom interview on Channels TV, the National President, Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Mr Victor Olojo, was put on the spot over the current naira crisis. The Central Bank of Nigeria mandates banks to pay customers with the new naira. The banks complain of inadequate supply of the new notes and innocent Nigerians are groaning under the yoke of the buck passing between the CBN and the commercial banks.

Responding to a question that the Point of Sale operators were taking advantage of the naira scarcity to charge those desperate to withdraw money huge interest, Olojo explained that his members  also had to source for naira notes in many places, including filling stations at a cost.

Why Then Did Buhari Weep?

 By Ifeanyi Maduako

Unlike women, it’s natural that men rarely weep or shed tears. Whatever makes a man weep must have overwhelmed him emotionally in such a manner that he cannot hold back tears. Therefore, when a man weeps in public, it’s possible that he may have wept several times over in his closet. Whatever makes a general to weep on camera before the whole world must be on something that touches on his nerves beyond emotional control.

*Buhari 

Against the foregoing background, when the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), wept before the cameras sometime in 2012 after losing the 2011 presidential election which was his third attempt at the presidential seat, the world was taken aback seeing a retired general shedding tears publicly ostensibly over the state of the nation.

Political Loyalists: Let Tinubu Be Himself

 

By Tonnie Iredia

Each time I come across a statement by the different support groups and campaign managers of some political parties, I am immediately reminded of certain issues that are yet to change in politics and elections in Nigeria.

One of them is the ease with which the closest sect of loyalists to Nigerian leaders complicate their tenures. It has become the practice for candidates who had during electioneering campaigns rolled out numerous programmes and policies to renege on or deemphasize them once they assume office. 

Big Waters, Big Floods And Big Calamity: Few Reflections On Moving Forward

 By Godknows Igali

Big Flood 2022, never seen in this part of the world in living human memory or captured in the historical data, visited Nigeria unhindered, especially Bayelsa and the rest of the low-lying areas. Now gradually, effortlessly ebbs away, its trail on many, especially the people whose natural habitat are the flood plains or swamplands. There have been lamentations, wailing and gales of funerals. Life must go on, so the survivors from north to south are rising to restart lives from the scratch.

That natural disasters occur, is a very sordid reality of human existence. From the study of history, archaeology and earth sciences, we have come to know that the world which we know is a product of millions of years of cataclysmic disasters, especially geological (earthquakes, volcanos) and hydrometeorological (floods, tsunamis and strong winds) over time. Some other disasters have been biomedical (plagues).

Does APC Deserve Another Tenure In Aso Rock?

 By Dan Onwukwe

It is not too late to begin to ask these questions: How does democracy protect itself against a ruling party that has almost ruined the country and destroyed lives and livelihoods of those it was elected to provide for their security and welfare and, yet is asking for their mandate for another tenure? Does that political party deserve your vote?

*Buhari, Tinubu and Adamu

Are you better off today than you were seven and a half years ago? Should you allow the same snake bite you twice? These questions should not be ducked. They are not rhetorical questions. At a time like this, what we need is truth simply spoken. That is why the forthcoming elections, beginning with the Presidential poll, are of critical importance. 

Buhari, APC: Stop This Hubris!

 By Tony Eluemunor

Why this brazen contempt for any opposing viewpoint. What has made Nigerians known to be the most vociferous critics on Moth­er Earth to lose all convictions?

*Buhari 

Please dear reader, if you were not in Mars during a period of petrol scarcity when the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Par­ty (PDP) administration held sway in Nigeria, you would have noticed the cascading of rambunctious criticism both Jonathan and the PDP faced – and rightly too. They had failed to make the refineries work maximally even as corruption trailed the pet­rol importation regime of that era. Apart from the trenchant criticism, all sorts of activists took to the streets to protest the belittling of Nigeria; an oil-producing country that was made to be importing petrol for local con­sumption just because she could not get her petrol refineries to work optimally.

Nigeria: Tackling The Menace Of ‘The Great Flood’

 By Harrison Eromosele

The annual ritual flooding which every  so often besieged and submerged communities, suburbs, towns, and certain metropolises across several states and countrywide has degenerated from being a recurring decimal problem to a recurring death crisis. The havoc wreaked by this year’s deadly flooding is overwhelmingly unprecedented.

Indeed, it has earned for itself, a catastrophic history. This is the great flood of 2022. There are frightening grapevine hypotheses, suggesting that the devastating scale of this year’s (2022) flood condition in relation to 2012 would possibly imply a repeat, once every decade.

Buhari Unwinnable Anti-Media War

 By Emmanuel Onwubiko

''Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter''   --Thomas Jefferson. 

''Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost''

 --Thomas Jefferson.

*Buhari 

The history of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration won’t certainly be complete without a detailed mention of his contrived but well sustained war against media freedoms. The cantankerous relationship between the Present federal administration in Nigeria with the media is a direct reflection of the kind of opaque government that is in place which substantially is devoid of transparency, accountability and integrity.

But this situation is diametrically opposed to what should be expected from a nation that has consistently practiced constitutional democracy for well over twenty years at a stretch after about four decades of military subjugation of the democratic forces under the whims and caprices of the barrels of the guns.

My Personal Encounter With Mr Peter Obi

 …I don’t need to verify

By Adim Williams

‘Go and verify’ has become a new slogan since the eventful emergence of the enigma called Peter Obi for the Nigerian presidential race. It’s not just a slogan but actually a new practice; a new culture. Before now, Nigerians used to take whatever politicians said hook, line and sinker. But not anymore.

*Gov Peter Obi inspecting flooded communities in Anambra State 

With Peter Obi’s  ‘go and verify’ challenge, most people now have their fingers on the phones and laptops to Google whatever claim any politician makes to confirm, to contest or to counter it. It’s a good development.

 It explains why the other presidential candidates now dread granting interviews, especially live interviews; so that their lies won’t be busted. However, some of us do not need to verify anything as far as Mr Peter Obi is concerned because, we had firsthand experience of his claims. Experience, they say, is the best teacher.

Why Nigerians Are Flocking To Peter Obi

 By Luke Onyekakeyah

The burning desire by Nigerians to see a turnaround in the country underscores the reason why Nigerians are flocking to Peter Obi and the Labour Party.

There is an urgent expectation for a new dawn to manifest in Nigeria without delay to give Nigerians a new lease of life. People are fed up with the status quo. Any political platform that could guarantee the desired rebirth becomes the centre of attraction.

*Peter Obi 

As it were, Nigerians have suffered untold hardship, pain and anguish brought by selfish and greedy politicians. The political and economic system has been ruined. Long-suffering is a norm in Nigeria as people bear the burden of misrule. The virtue of patience has been overstretched beyond the limit and this is understandable.

Understandable in the sense that the country has been raped and bastardised and Nigerians denied the good things of life since independence. The desire for a productive country started on October 1, 1960. That desire did not materialise. Barely six years into independence the country was plunged into a fierce fratricidal civil war that claimed over a million lives and truncated the political and economic trajectory.

Buharism: As The Naira Collapses, So Does Nigeria

 By Tony Eluemnor

I may not be an Economist but I don’t need an Economist to tell me that as the Naira tumbles in the foreign exchange (of currencies) market, thus Nigeria collapses. Or to put it in a proper perspective, thus the quality of the livelihood of Nigerians collapses, degrades, vanishes, disappears, is tarnished, is destroyed. I added that really needless second sentence because there could be some people out there that could claim that the country Nigeria is totally different from the citizens.

*Buhari 
As strange as that may sound, some people actually think that the country Nigeria is different from her citizens, or that the health of her economy does not really impact on the lives of the citizenry. If not, the cost of necessities such as petrol, cement, electricity tariff, food, transportation, books, newsprint, even sachet water and bread, should not be rising every day and our leaders would be congratulating themselves for a job well done. Also, no government official has seen it fit to resign. Yes, they also tag themselves as “progressives”!