By Emmanuel Aziken
The Department of State Services, DSS, trended this week after the internal police issued a statement of caution over an alleged plot by some political actors to install an interim government.
The DSS in the statement said it had identified the political actors involved and went further to insinuate the stages that they had gone and the options that the assumed plotters have been weighing in their aspiration.
By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi
It is no longer news that some of the first-term governors-elect will face many months of unpaid workers’ salaries and mounting pension liabilities, as well as agitation for the implementation of the nationally agreed minimum wage, rising inflation, escalating prices of goods and services, and dwindling purchasing power. These incoming governors, about seventeen of them, according to reports will have a difficult time boosting the economies of their individual states because they will take over at least N2.1 trillion in domestic debt and $1.9 billion in foreign debt from their predecessors.
It is equally a common knowledge that in January 2023, Patience Oniha, Director general, Debt Management Office (DMO), while fielding questions from journalists at the public presentation and breakdown of the highlights of the 2023 appropriation act in Abuja, noted that the incoming Federal Government would inherit about N77 trillion as debt by the time President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure ends in May.
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
A friend of mine sent me a text message the other day: “Ikechukwu, please stop this fight. This election has been won and lost and it is high time we moved forward. Lamenting over spilt milk is an exercise in futility and if you are close to Peter Obi, please tell him to give peace a chance and allow the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to get on with the job. His insistence on challenging the outcome of the election in court is a disservice to the nation. He should withdraw it and seek accommodation in the incoming administration.”
Really? I shook my head in disbelief because this is someone I thought I knew well enough, including his political views. He was an advocate of social justice and a rule of law enthusiast, who had always encouraged those short-changed at the polls by electoral bandits to seek redress in court.
By Clement Uzoanya
Whatever has a beginning is said to have an end. But it seems that the deplorable Nigerian situation keeps reinventing itself, thus robbing citizens of the dividends of democracy. Is this God’s will for Nigeria and Nigerians or have Nigerians failed repeatedly to actualise God’s plan for a country that is rich in virtually every ramification?
Many Nigerians looked forward to the 2023 general elections for many reasons, among which were: the large number of youth population involved and interested; the fact that the elections were not the traditional two-horse race; the repeated assurances from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; the signing of the 2022 Electoral Act which contained the deployment of technology; the increasingly depressing state of the economy, among others. So, the build-up to the elections was one filled with a nostalgia of anxiety, apprehension, hope that the time has come for us to get things right. But did we?
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
On March 18, 2023, some Nigerians, incurable optimists I must say, still went out to cast their votes in the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections after the presidential and National Assembly elections fiasco of February 25, believing that Nigeria is still redeemable.
Well, I am not one of them. I used to be sanguine as well before the presidential election, having been taken in by President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of bequeathing the country a legacy of credible elections. The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, was a real charmer who totally took me in in the days leading up to the elections.
By Charles Okoh
Last week, Nigerians got some sort of relief as the Central Bank and Federal Government finally complied with the Supreme Court ruling on the lingering cash squeeze which practically squeezed life out of many Nigerians.
I am not particularly interested in the debate as it concerns
the independence of the CBN or otherwise or the right of the Supreme court to
intervene in monetary policy administration.
The arguments for or against, are neither here nor there, my pain is the unwarranted hardship which the federal government under president Muhammadu Buhari unconscionably subjected the people to. This level of hardship is unprecedented.
By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
Any ruling party can make even a goat win an election. The only exception to this great truism is Goodluck Jonathan who lost his baton. Nigeria had a much-ballyhooed presidential election on February 25, and there is not much to report except that the election was bought and sold.
By Casmir Igbokwe
The senior military officer looked with pity on some citizens marching enthusiastically to go and cast their votes. “You are wasting your time,” he said. It was in Lagos on the day of the presidential and National Assembly elections. When prodded, this officer alleged that a security report came shortly before the election, indicating who the powers that be wanted as President. This supposedly meant that the security men would have to cooperate to deliver the anointed one. I dismissed this information. But when President Muhammadu Buhari illegally raised his ballot paper to show that he voted for his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), I became suspicious.
It was then that what Reverend Father Emmanuel (surname withheld) told me five days to the election dawned on me. This priest said he was highly afraid the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, might not make it to Aso Rock. “The cabals are highly against him. I have been praying about this, but God can’t do for human beings what they can do for themselves,” he added. This was actually his reaction to my article titled, “Electing Nigeria’s miraculous President,” published on Monday, February 20, 2023.
By Olu Fasan
President Muhammadu Buhari said, ad infinitum, that he would leave a legacy of credible elections. Last year, at the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, Buhari told world leaders: “I would leave an enduring legacy of free, fair, transparent and credible elections.” Yet, last week, he delivered the worst and most corrupt presidential poll since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999.
Buhari gave Nigerians false hopes and pulled the wool over the people’s eyes. Last year, he signed into law an electoral bill that introduced two key technologies expected to make elections credible. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, used for digital voter accreditation and electronic transmission of results, was seen as an antidote to election rigging. The INEC Results Viewing, IReV, portal would enable the public to view uploaded results from polling units, ensuring transparency.
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
IN the early hours of Wednesday, March 1, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, declared the result of the presidential election which held on Saturday, February 25. Rather than jubilation, a pall of silence descended on the nation because many believe that their electoral will, freely expressed, had been subverted by suborned officials.
As the reality of what had happened dawned on them, many were speechless, others simply wore long faces, not believing that fellow citizens could execute such an unconscionable electoral heist. Thirty years ago, precisely on June 12, 1993, I voted for the first time in my life in a presidential election. Of course, that wasn’t when I attained the voting age. I was already a graduate and staff of Guardian Newspapers Limited. But I was a minor, electorally speaking, when the 1983 elections took place and, therefore, had no franchise to vote.
By Emmanuel Onwubiko
Some days before the presidential election of February 25, 2023, I was awoken by a chat informing me of the possibility that the election may not be taking place in seven Local Government areas of Imo State. The Senior Director of the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, who brought this sad tale, also tasked me to find out why this is so.
The Director expressed shock, consternation and disappointment that the insecurity in the South east of Nigeria has been allowed to degenerate and is now a hydra-headed monster. The person expressing this worry is not even Igbo Speaking but he is genuinely concerned about what has gone on for two years now in the Igbo heartlands.
By Tony Iwuoma
Things are happening at dizzying speed. A
mere pronouncement of two men and their naira swap policy have merged the rich
and the poor into one mass of needy Nigerians.
*El-Rufai and Buhari
It’s more amusing because the minority high and mighty who were hitherto alien to the suffering of the majority seem caught unawares in the same web in which they enmeshed the people. In their confusion, they have begun tearing down their own houses with their own hands.
By Okey Ndiribe
A recent attack on President Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy in Kano is a clear sign of rejection by the youths of the ancient city. Coming shortly after a similar incident in his home state of Katsina, it sends a signal of regional resentment against a leader who enjoyed a massive personality cult-following at the beginning of his tenure eight years ago.
These seeming acts of rebellion on the part of a once docile populace -which gave him over 12 million votes during the 2015 presidential election-appear to be a direct response to the President’s recent self-award of a pass mark to his administration. Buhari’s remark which was made in Bauchi had elicited a huge controversy among Nigerians. One had thought that was the end of the matter.
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
President Muhammadu Buhari has stated for the umpteenth time that he desires to bequeath the country a legacy of credible elections. That seems to be the only low hanging fruit waiting for him to pluck as his disastrous presidency comes to an insalubrious end on May 29. He has made the promise not only to Nigerians but also the international community.
While commissioning a wide range of operational assets acquired by his administration to strategically improve the capabilities of the police, particularly in crowd control and anti-riot operations, on February 13, the president harped on the need for them to be professional while policing the elections.
By Levi Obijiofor
When you hear about economic hardships battering the citizens of a country, you need go no further to search, locate and understand what the experiences might look like. We have the exact situation on the ground in Nigeria. The current cash crunch across the country, impishly engineered by the Central Bank and aided by commercial banks, has paralysed human and business activities in Nigeria and pulverised the welfare of ordinary citizens. This is an unsolicited experience no one in Nigeria would like to relive.
There are visibly many players in the current
game of infamy playing out in the country. At the head of the mischief-makers
is Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, closely followed by chief executives
of commercial banks, and supported by point of sale (POS) or point of purchase
(POP) vendors. They constitute the merchants of evil. They have made life
unbearable for ordinary people. More important, the CBN and commercial bank
officials must take full responsibility for the current economic instability.
Their reputation has been sullied but they do not care about reputation.
If you were a
bank customer in Nigeria and were asked to rank the following people and
professionals, in terms of unethical conduct and dishonesty, which of them
would top your list?
Would you pick the dishonest and unfeeling bank
manager, the corrupt police officer, the strong-willed army/naval/air force
officer, the dubious Customs officer, the morally despicable pastor or priest,
the heartless lawyer, the unlicensed and unqualified medical doctor, the junk
journalist, the crooked construction engineer, the callous nurse/midwife, the
licentious and lecherous university teacher, the devious trader or market
woman, the mechanistic carpenter, the unprincipled chef, the headline-chasing
newspaper editor and publisher, the fraudulent accountant, the histrionic
advertising or public relations manager, the coldblooded pickpocket, the
penny-pinching and amoral prostitute, or the duplicitous commercial vehicle
operator?
The persons
listed above are not exhaustive, but chances are that you might select the
pickpocket or prostitute as the vilest, most unethical, most dreadful and most
dishonest person. Your choice would have been made based on how these people
are perceived in public. Regardless of what happens, the point to keep in mind is
that person perception is often far from reality.
When a
similar study was conducted in Australia in 1996, the outcome was a rude shock
to everyone. The study requested respondents to rank various professions in
terms of how they were perceived for ethics, trust and honesty. Surprisingly,
newspaper journalists were ranked second from the bottom. That study revealed
for the first time a terrible image problem for Australian journalists, despite
the essential role they play in their society. In that poll, newspaper
journalists were ranked very low – they managed to beat used-car
salespersons.
Follow-up
studies have been conducted since that time but the image of Australian
journalists has not improved significantly. A study of Australia’s most trusted
professions conducted in 2021 showed that doctors were the most trusted,
followed by nurses, paramedics, firefighters, scientists, police officers,
teachers, pharmacists, pilots and veterinarians. The same study placed
journalists second to last (number 29), just one place ahead of politicians who
were ranked last at number 30.
In
the perception of the Australian public, journalists are still seen as
untrustworthy, dishonest and unethical. The underlying message is that
Australian journalists are not regarded highly by the public.
Each
society places a different value on its institutions. Consider the following.
In December 2000, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, regarded as the
world’s largest selling newspaper, asked 2,000 people to list the institution they
trusted most. The prime minister was ranked last. That said a lot about the
extent of confidence the Japanese people placed on their politicians. Imagine
the kind of ranking President Muhammadu Buhari and his ministers would receive
if that kind of poll was conducted in Nigeria.
Still in December 2000, a Gallup Opinion Poll conducted in the United States about the most trusted institutions showed that the military were ranked top and television was ranked 14th.
I do not
believe that a similar poll to that conducted in Australia would produce a
similar result in Nigeria in terms of the image of newspaper journalists. In
Nigeria, the public image of journalists is yet to be tested officially through
a public opinion survey. But for bank officials and particularly university
lecturers who engage in frequent rounds of sexual harassment of female
students, a practice that has become widespread, we do not need such a test
because there is unassailable evidence that shows that the battered image of
university lecturers and bank officials is a direct outcome of their unethical
and dishonest conduct in their professional roles.
I am reminded
of what a recent female graduate of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri,
said on video while thanking God for her success that was also attributed to
the magnetic power of her sexual organ.
For a very
long time, we associated bank managers in Nigeria with honest and ethical
conduct. Whenever you wanted to complete an official form (such as public
examination form or visa/passport renewal form), you were directed to approach
a bank manager or a police officer or a pastor to initial that application
form. That requirement was based on the norms that existed and still exist in
civilized societies where the bank manager or pastor or police officer
represented in real terms an emblem of honesty, faith and good character.
In Nigeria,
the public no longer perceives the bank official as emblematic of honesty,
integrity, principles or values. In fact, the bank manager and other bank
officials are held in low esteem. They are demonised, derided, and portrayed as
the ultimate agents of corruption and everything loathsome in the society.
These perceptions are legitimate considering current experiences in which
citizens are denied access to the new naira notes that are hoarded by banks,
while members of the privileged class are given excess new notes.
It is evident that bank managers are key players
in illegal hoarding or stockpiling of the new naira notes. Investigations by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), along with spot checks
conducted by CBN officials have exposed the collusion by banks to deny citizens
their right to access their money in the custody of banks.
Similarly, I
do not think university lecturers in Nigeria would stand the test of morality.
Some of them see their female students as a kind of collateral or reward they
should receive on earth.
Corruption
has eaten deeply into the souls of bank managers in Nigeria. The damage is
beyond repair. Nobody can fix the problem. Training and character building
based on ethical reorientation will not resuscitate the damaged character
profile of despicable bank managers and officials.
We cannot
fight unethical and dishonest practices by bank managers and officials of other
financial institutions. They are so deeply soaked in the ocean of corruption.
Corruption is widespread in Nigeria, a dysfunctional society in which there is
no law and order, a society in which people do things any way they like. In
that environment, no one is accountable to anybody. No one is responsible to
anyone. It is a country of “anything goes” in which the culture places a higher
value on wealth and property acquisition. That is the pull or inducement that
attracts bank managers and officials to continue to engage in corrupt
practices.
*Dr. Obijiofor is a commentator on public issues
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
As President Muhammadu Buhari prepares himself for a happy return to his comfortable country home in Daura, Katsina State, after nearly eight years in office where he posted what is widely adjudged as far below average performance, a 19-year old, tender, innocent girl named Leah Sharibu remains a hapless, pathetic, unspeakably traumatized captive of Boko Haram terrorists, obviously, under the most dehumanizing conditions.
*Leah Sharibu
Given what has, reportedly, been the horrible experiences of young, beautiful girls like Leah who have been captured by these terrorists, one is really scared to imagine the extent of savage violations she might have been subjected to for over five years now! It is heartbreaking that she hardly gets mentioned again these days, especially, by those whose job it is to rescue and bring her home to her grieving parents and siblings!Has Nigeria woefully failed Leah Sharibu then? Has President Buhari who may have her age mates as grandchildren forgotten her? Has he given up hope of ever bringing her home again to her heartbroken parents? Will he leave her in the horrible den of terrorists as he happily retires to the comfort his home and family in Daura in the next few months?
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
In the twilight of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, a drama played out in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly as senators squared up in a crunch tenure elongation. The day was May 16, 2006, one year before the end of Obasanjo’s constitutionally guaranteed maximum eight years of two terms. But Obasanjo didn’t want to leave, hence the need to amend the Constitution with an open ended-tenure.
As pro-tenure elongation senators plotted
their third term agenda, anti-Obasanjo forces also arranged their cards.
On the day of the second reading of the Amendment Bill, the Senate President, Ken Nnamani, called out his colleagues one after the other and his predecessor, Adolphus Wabara, became the starboy.
By Charles Okoh
It is completely heart-rending and morally incomprehensible the level some Nigerians can go to excuse President Muhammadu Buhari for the wreck that his administration has made of Nigeria and Nigerians. His spin doctors would blame anything and everything under the sun for his sloppy performance in office, except the culprits himself. Buhari’s failure is self-inflicted and he should completely take responsibility for the failure of his government.
Today, everybody is in one queue or the other. The perennial fuel scarcity has remained with the country for virtually all of the President’s seven-and-half years’ tenure, so far, and everybody and association or union, is blamed for the failure of the petroleum sector, except the substantive minister of petroleum, who happens to be President Buhari.
By Stanley Ekpa
When the International Monetary Fund, IMF, categorises resource-rich countries, it classifies the countries according to their export baskets. At least 20 African countries, including Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, and Tanzania, are classified as resource-rich, with their export bases comprising a bulk of unprocessed crude oil, minerals and agricultural commodities.
The classification of countries in other continents, such as Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, is based on the diversity of their export bases and value-added products. Since 1973, the year of the first oil boom, crude oil has constituted more than 90% of Nigeria’s export earnings, making Nigeria a global classic case of a monocultural economy. Though a monocultural economy has the advantage of product specialisation, it runs contrary to the spirit of Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in building a balanced and resilient economy.
By Paul Ejime
The call, the other day, by President Muhammadu Buhari on foreign ambassadors posted to Nigeria to desist from interfering in the country’s forthcoming election is both timely and imperative. The president spoke while receiving Letters of Credence from the Ambassadors of Switzerland, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Kingdom of Thailand, Republic of Senegal and Republic of South Sudan. He reiterated his call to foreign government representatives in Nigeria not to interfere in the country’s internal affairs, especially the electoral process.
“I urge you to be guided by diplomatic practice to ensure that your activities remain within the limits of your profession as you monitor the build-up to the elections and the conduct of the general elections itself,” presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement.
