Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye's Peep Into Nigeria's Looting Culture

 (A tribute to Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye on his birthday, May 27, 2021)

By Dan Amor

Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is not only a quintessential Nigerian writer and journalist, he is, undoubtedly, one of the most formidable literary and social critics in the country today. Ejinkeonye, whose birthday is today (May 27), is not only a wordsmith of note whose diction and images capture the experiences and nebulous fancies of the Nigerian condition, he is also one of Africa's most celebrated newspaper columnists and public affairs analysts. 

This book is also available on AMAZON

Ugo, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, is not only trained in the intricate use and application of English words and grammar, he is gifted with the ability and capacity to comment with admirable lucidity and illuminating temper, on the insularity and philistinism of our turbulent existence. Indeed, most of the theoretical and critical essays of Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye have been widely published in local and international newspapers and academic journals with tremendous critical acclaim. 

His recent offering, Nigeria:WhyLooting May Not Stop, is a collection of some of his columns published in newspapers and journals over time. It is an engrossing tapestry of the Nigerian condition. Drawing afflatus from language, literature, journalism, religion, politics, culture and everyday experience, Ugo's book, segmented into two parts of unequal chapters (Part One has 17 chapters and Part Two, 5 chapters), is a forum in which the highly informed commentator effects an in-gathering of his critical sallies. 

Nigeria: National Assembly In Chains

 By DAN AMOR

In all democratic nations of the world, there are three major arms of government: the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. As an assembly of elected and authentic representatives of the people, the legislature makes the laws that govern the day-to-day operations of government. The executive formulates and implements policies based on the framework of the laws promulgated by the lawmakers; whereas the judiciary, as the safety valve or sole arbiter of the common man, interprets the laws of the land and adjudicates on matters arising from any breach of the law between parties to the common wheel. 

                       *Lawan, Buhari and Gbajabiamila

What makes the legislature the bastion of democracy in any society, except in a few totalitarian states, is that its functions encapsulate representation of the people, lawmaking and over-sighting the executive. This is the crux of the matter. In a presidential democracy, like the type we practise here in Nigeria, the legislature exists not only to make laws but also to serve as the voice of the people in government and to make government accountable to the people. This makes the legislature the pillar of democracy.