Resource Curse And Niger Delta Unending Discourse

 By Jerome-Mario Utomi

Going by information at the public domain, a Warri Delta State-based newspaper, GbaramatuVoice, in furtherance of its Niger Delta Economic Discourse series, will on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 by 10am, at the BON Hotel, Warri, Delta state, hold a focused group discussion that centers on two separate but related typical and topical issues – the recently extended Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Federal Government proposed but abandoned modular refineries in the region.

The dialogue, which has as a theme, ‘Presidential Amnesty Programme and Modular Refineries: Towards sustainable human capital relations,’ will bring together, to deeply appraise the programmes and come up with useful recommendations, critical stakeholders comprising ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, policymakers from both state and federal levels, agencies and commissions, development professionals, media professionals, traditional rulers from the oil producing communities, representatives of different security agencies and apparatus in the country among others.

As Furious Floods Buffet The Food Basket

 By Tunde Olusunle

Your eyes are instantly arrested by the unusual volume of the Benue River as you drive into Makurdi from the Daudu/Agan abutments of the capital of Benue State, this quiet afternoon.

You glide past the approach bridge, and glimpse to your left, the “Makurdi Golf Course,” hitherto seated by the scenic lips of the river. It is soaked, sadly now, swamped and submerged by the overabundance of liquid blessings. Ahead of you is the attention-commanding artwork of a huge basket bearing a variety of farm produce, an attestation to the pride of the place of Benue State as the epicentre of food production in the country.

The image sits strategically at the intersection which leads to the nation’s South East and South-South stretches. The scourge of the floods, you come to understand, is the reason that your host, Samuel Ioraer Ortom, Governor of the state, could barely savour the nation’s 62nd Independence Anniversary, two days later. 

He began his day that Saturday, Oct 1, 2022, by attending the interdenominational church service commemorating the national landmark. The event was held at the All Nations Evangelism Ministries in Makurdi, the state capital and Ortom had taken the first Bible reading.

Paradox Of Poverty In The Midst Of Plenty

 By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“While other nations are faced with the challenges of the 21st Century,we are bogged down by the avarice of the elite. Every time we believe we have seen the worst from our country, the shameless, opportunistic power grabbers take us back to a new low” – Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum, NDLF New York (June, 2010)

Looked at, over the past six decades the statistics have been simply scary, shocking and scandalous! One is talking of course, about the inexcusable social inequality and injustice that still persist between the few rotten-rich citizens and the long-suffering led majority, here in my dear fatherland, Nigeria. With the knowledge that we live in a country abundantly blessed by God with vast and varied natural resources, it is a crying shame that we are still enmeshed in the deepest pit of pitiable poverty, globally.

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.

End-SARS: The Big Picture

 By Ray Ekpu

Since 1992 when the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was established its modus operandi has been basically kill-and-go. This was during the military era where a military ruler arrogantly told Nigerians during a peaceful protest that they were trained experts in the domination of their environment.

When a leader says that to the hearing of people who carry weapons they take that message to heart. The SARS people may have fought armed robbers viciously but they also fought – and killed – many innocent persons. The reports of their atrocities which include extortion, torture and extra-judicial killings have appeared in the media regularly but it has never been manifestly clear to the public that the offending personnel are often brought to justice. Perhaps, some victims with high visibility or influential connections have had their cases pursued to a logical end.

The Many Contradictions Of Muhammadu Buhari

By Reno Omokri

President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed everybody but himself for his problems and now that he has gotten to the end of his tenure, he has run out of human beings to blame, so he has now been reduced to blaming inanimate objects.

*Buhari 

I mean, on Christmas Day he told the visiting Federal Capital Territory Christian community that his anti-corruption war had not really taken off because the Nigerian system was slow. Well, he does have a point, because if the Nigerian system had been working, Muhammadu Buhari would have faced a firing squad for overthrowing the democratically elected civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari on New Year’s eve of 1983.

In Praise Of Strike

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Until humanity blurs the power distinction that privileges the leaders and afflicts the led with misery, the magic for banishing strike would remain eternally elusive. Like in most post-colonial states, the power relations in Nigeria have rendered the majority of the citizens nugatory. The citizens’ input is not sought into how the resources of the nation are shared. Even if it is sought, it is not reckoned with when decisions are made.

This is why while the leaders have security, the citizens are left at the mercy of marauders, kidnappers and armed robbers. Again, the leaders can live in plenitude, thanks to the resources of the society, while the other citizens go to bed on empty stomachs. Yet, when the citizens say they are fed up, they are told not to complain.

Yusuf, President Buhari’s Anti-Corruption Poster Boy

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

No matter how much President Muhammadu Buhari strives at every critical juncture to portray his so-called anti-corruption fight as incontestable reality, it often unravels as an unrelieved charade before the citizens. This irrevocable futility has once again gained expression through the case of Usman Yusuf as a foil for the acclaimed Buhari’s lack of tolerance for corruption at a time there is a list of 50 corrupt persons, albeit disavowed by the government. Those on the list have been embargoed from travelling abroad while the nation’s law courts have not found them guilty of the allegation of ruthlessly heisting the national treasury or their state patrimony.

*Usman Yusuf 

Yusuf is the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). He has been suspended from office by the agency’s governing council led by Dr. Ifene Enyantu. There are allegations of corruption against him. He has been accused of illegally executing N30 billion investments, inflating the cost of biometric capturing machines and unlawfully posting staff.

Bola Tinubu’s Feudalisation Of Lagos State Politics

By Olu Fasan

 Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of Lagos state, has been thrown under the bus. He will not serve a second term in office not because the people of Lagos state rejected him in an election but because his godfather, Bola Tinubu, pulled the plug on his re-election bid. When somebody dies, Christians often say, quoting Job 1: 21, that “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away”.

*Tinubu and Abode 

 Well, in Lagos state politics, Tinubu gives and Tinubu takes away! He is the god of Lagos state politics, the lord of the Lagos Manor! In 2007, before leaving office as governor of the state, Tinubu gifted the governorship to his protégé, Babatunde Fashola. Eight years later, in 2015, Fashola didn’t know his place. He too wanted to be a godfather by making one of his own protégés governor of the state against the diktat of his own godfather. But, forgive the colloquialism, godfather pass godfather! Fashola lost out, and another Tinubu bag-carrier, Ambode, became governor.

Why Nigeria Needs To Be Re-Structured

By Atiku Abubakar

In a recent interaction in the United States, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asserted that the “problem with our country is not a matter of restructuring…and we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the argument that our problems stem from some geographic re-structuring”.

*Atiku

It is a surprise that the Vice President would take such a position and, in particular, fail to appreciate the connection between Nigeria’s defective structure and its underperformance. 

Understanding Adams Oshiomhole

By Abraham Ogbodo

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole is used to public shows. He lives as if every situation in life is a piece of drama that must be acted out. Even at that, he does not respect the rules of the stage and stay within his role.  For no clear reason, he loves to be the lead actor always, even if the director casts him to merely play a supporting role.

*Adams Oshiomhole 

As president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it seemed Nigeria had two presidents. Then, if a man or woman only mentioned the ‘President’ in describing the head of state and number one citizen of Nigeria, he or she would be required to give further details so that it would be known if the description applied to Obasanjo or Oshiomhole.

Nigeria: Of Treacheries By Political Mercenaries

By Sufuyan Ojeifo

“As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. 

So Jesus told him, what you are about to do, do quickly”

– John 13:27 (New International Version of the Holy Bible). 

Those who are conversant with the verse of the Bible quoted supra would remember very vividly what happened and the context in which Jesus made the statement.  

*Buhari and Saraki

But for those who are not, what transpired was that the time that Jesus Christ would be crucified was at hand and it has been written that one man, Judas, a son of perdition, who would fulfill a negative prophecy, would betray him to those who sought to carry out his arrest for the purpose of His trial and crucifixion. Jesus knew from the outset of creation that Judas had been predestined to accomplish that task in human history.  Judas, therefore, did not have the grace to resist the supernatural obligation to keep that grisly appointment with destiny.

Nigeria: Vice President Osinbajo’s Bluster And Burden Of Proof

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Nations like individuals who have recorded giant strides in most spheres of life sometimes look backward. It is not to escape from the challenges of the present. Rather, they appropriate vital lessons in such moments to turn their travails into opportunities for a stellar lot in life. In that case, they appreciate the place of history in their current march to progress. But we are trapped in a tragic situation when we think that such moments only serve as opportunities to gloatingly point to others the glitch in the wheel of a people’s quest for development. Thus, we do not deny the necessity for the past to pay for its misdeeds. 

Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo

In this regard, the current government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari is free to hold its predecessor to account. But the danger the current government has not successfully negotiated is that of going to a ridiculous extent. Deluded by the notion that the past is complicit in its denial of a star rating, the Buhari government could unabashedly blame the Jonathan government for disrupting the president’s domestic felicity by inducing his wife to rail at his failings in private and public. 

Compared To Jonathan, Buhari Is A Weakling

By Reno Omokri

“I Never Knew the IGP Moved To Nasarawa After I Sent Him To Benue”.

These were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari, a man sold to Nigeria as a strongman leader. Going further, the President is quoted to have said “I did not know that the IG did not stay in the state. I am getting to know this at this meeting. I am quite surprised.”

*Jonathan and Buhari 

This revelation from President Buhari has vindicated his wife, Aisha Buhari, who in 2016 revealed that the President had lost control of his government. What type of Commander-in-Chief gives an order and does not have processes in place to verify that such orders have been carried out? A weak leader that is who.

Nigeria: A Vote For State Police

By Ike Ekweremadu

The National Security Summit initiated by the Senate kicked-off on Thursday, February 8, 2018 with a clear pro-state police/decentralised policing disposition by the presidency.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President Muhammadu Buhari said: “The nature of our security challenges is complex. Securing Nigeria’s over 923,768 square kilometres and its 180 million people requires far more men and materials than we have at the moment. It also requires a continual re-engineering of our security architecture and strategies…. We cannot realistically police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. State police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go.” 

This is a cheery paradigm shift coming from the presidency and recently from the Governors Forum.

Nigeria: Time To Remove Muhammadu Buhari From Power

By Remi Oyeyemi

"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction." – John F. Kennedy

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." – Benjamin Franklin

*Buhari 

Dateline - February 11, 2018. As I woke up this morning, I got a message from one of our revere leaders in Yorùbá Nation. The message, not something one would have expected on a Sunday morning, but nevertheless, I got this message. I was confident that this elderly person, the way I have known him, must have considered the timing and its propriety before sending the message.

He must have been very enraged. His being a father and grandfather must have been egregiously violated. The milk of human kindness flowing in his veins must have belched with a high degree of contamination. His marrows of humaneness must have erupted with disgust and unbelief. He must have been excessively repulsed to the point that he felt the message must get to me. And quickly too.

2019 Elections And Nigeria’s Future

By Matthew Ozah

Elections will be held in 2019. That simple statement of fact ought not to send shivers down the spines of anybody. But, it’s scary going by the way and manners elections usually take shape in this part of the world where most politicians regard it as a do-or-die affair. It is even more chaotic if a rising and promising young politician challenges an incumbent or powers from the old set-up.

However, one safe prediction for the 2019 elections is that, the biggest problems we face as a nation will not disappear overnight. Without mincing words, that will be the metaphor and emphasis for visionless politicians during the campaign. This is because politicians use all sorts of logic and promise to woo the electorate. Just like President Muhammadu Buhari has used restructuring, corruption fight, payments of N5,000 stipends to jobless youth, stable electricity and steady fuel pump price among others to water the pathway and win his ‘change’ election slogan in 2015. Therefore, Nigerians should not be surprised to see political parties fly all sorts of kites in the name of promises to better the lives of the people.

Mainagate: Is President Buhari Still Mr. Integrity

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

The video on Channels Television was dramatic.

The event was the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday and the dramatis personae were the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who obviously was the arbiter, but never uttered a word, even as he listened with rapt attention, the embattled Head of Service (HoS), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, who was the most agitated, the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, whose action(s) or inaction seemed to be the reason for the testy tango, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (retd).

*President Buhari 

It was a full house of ministers and other top government officials including the leadership of both the National Assembly and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and military top brass, who were waiting for the arrival of President Muhammadu Buhari for the commencement of the meeting.

The audio quality of the video was poor and nobody could hear what was being said but the facial expressions, gesticulations and general body language of all the actors said it all. When Mrs. Oyo-Ita could no longer take the heat, she walked off in a huff, back to her seat, still seething.

Anambra: APC’s Farcical Campaign Flag-Off!

By Chuks Iloegbunam

 Salvation was to befall Ndigbo! So went the media hype. Salvation’s landfall was slated for Onitsha. And once it set down, every Anambra indigene would be happy ever after. It was the APC campaign flag off for the November 18 gubernatorial ballot. Appropriately, the conveyor of the balm to turn Anambra from ill to glory was the Gombe-born Ibrahim Jalo-Waziri, APC’s Youth Leader. Given his eminence, therefore, it was with a swagger that Alhaji Jalo-Waziri found his way to the podium.

*Anambra Governor, Willie Obiano

 Given again that most of those in attendance were in their teens and twenties – as if they had been corralled from secondary and tertiary institutions – there was rapt attention and immense anticipation. The Youth Leader had hope to deliver. Most of those drowned in mire or shot dead for carrying Biafran flags and seeking self-determination were in the same age bracket as those Jalo-Waziri would address. Perhaps he would explain to them the rationale behind the heavy-handedness. The man cleared his throat. “Vote for APC,” he intoned. “Our victory will connect you to the big contracts of Abuja”!

At Last, Buhari Sacks Babachir, Oke, Names New SGF

*Babachir Lawal 

In a move that may have caught many Nigerians by surprise, President Muhammadu Buhari has relieved the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal, of his post.

Also sacked is the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mr. Ayo Oke, who has equally been on suspension following his role in the Ikoyi fund scandal that  rocked the nation some months ago.

This was made known by the president’s special adviser on media, Mr. Femi Adesina.

Mr. Adesina announced Mr. Boss Mustapha as the new SGF.