The Alarming Rate Of Poverty In Nigeria

By Victor Ikem

As the world marked the 2018 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on the 17th of October, it has become imperative to remind governments and policy actors in Nigeria of the growing rates of poverty and the urgent need to reverse this ugly trend through a well thought out and compressive strategy, policy and programmes towards eliminating the causes of poverty in Nigeria. 

While the debate generated by the Brookings Institution’s World Poverty Clock report which rated Nigeria as a country with the highest number of extremely poor people in the world, is yet to wane, it is disturbing to see how the British Prime Minister, Theresa May at her recent visit to Africa, described Nigeria saying much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy, yet 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1 and 90 cents a day, making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world.

Roadblocks Against Women

By Ray Ekpu

Since Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the first elected leader, women have come to the realisation that it is possible for them to break the male dominance in the high leadership sector.

*Former Liberian President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf

Women such as Golda Meir of Israel, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May of Britain, Angela Merkel of Germany, Ameenah Guib-Fakini of Mauritius and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, to mention but a few have risen to the pinnacle of political power in their countries. The number still remains negligible because women have had formidable roadblocks placed on their path to the top by men and society generally.

Aisha Buhari: New Face Of The Opposition?

By Steve Nwosu

First Lady, Aisha Buhari, is definitely working for the PDP.
And we can now officially enthrone her as the matriarch of the Wailers. Now, don’t ask me if she has ‘officially’ joined the PDP yet. But to underscore the fact that Hajia Aisha is currently being tempted to publicly tear her APC membership card (OBJ on my mind), President Muhammadu Buhari told a press conference in Germany last week that “I don’t know the party my wife belongs to”.

*Aisha Buhari 

So, officially, husband and wife are no longer in the same political party. My only problem for now is that I don’t know whether she belongs to the Makarfi/Wike faction or the Modu Sherrif faction. I also don’t know how much the umbrella people paid her to do what she’s doing.

Yes, if I or any other journalist or political commentator had said what Mrs. Buhari told BBC Hausa Service about Buhari and his government, I suspect the DSS, Police or EFCC would since have come calling. Yes, they might not resort to pulling down our doors or sneaking up on us like any gang of armed robbers and kidnappers would but bank accounts might have been frozen by now. And Lai Mohammed would be on air, talking about how we had been contracted and generously paid, by the PDP, to discredit Buhari’s government.

I think Aisha is coming from our rich and long production line of strong women in the corridors of power and leadership. Soft exterior, steely interior!

In Nigeria, we are not new to presidencies where the women wear the trousers and have the balls (if you’ll indulge me that expression).
Those who were close to the Goodluck Jonathan’s would swear that it was Mama Peace that had the balls. I was not close to the Umaru Yar’Aduas, but I’ve heard stories about Hajia Turai. President Olusegun Obasanjo may have been as stubborn as a he-goat, but people close to the then first family attest that his beautiful wife, Stella, was one woman OBJ could not put down.

I don’t know how the military leaders coped with their own wives, but legend has it that IBB stood no chance of ever making it to Maryam’s bedroom again if he had insisted, with the then Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), that Asaba should not be the capital of the then about-to-be-created Delta State.