As Nigerians Mourn, Buhari Celebrates...

President Buhari must have his party despite the excruciating hardship in the land 

*Joined by family and associates, including Gov 

Rochas Okorocha and Rotimi Amaechi, Buhari 

savours his 73rd Birthday Party 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, hosted an impressive dinner party at the State House yesterday, December 17, 2015, to mark her husband’s 73rd Birthday. Observers are wondering how a president under whom Nigerians are experiencing one of the worst economic conditions in the country’s history can muster the presence of mind to have such a party and even plaster the social media with pictures from it – where they are celebrating and laughing as if they have no care in the world.

Nigeria: O Justice, Where Are You?

By Chibiko Nwakaudu

I have watched the judicial terrain as regards the electoral jurisprudence with trepidation and grave concern. This era is without doubt the worst for those seeking justice in the several electoral matters that have been brought to the tribunals and some of the superior courts.

I must make this clarification early. I am not a lawyer. I am just a right-thinking member of the Nigerian Community who has been dismayed by the happenings in the hitherto temple of justice. I further declare that the views here are my personal observations and conclusions, based on my interpretation of the ugly situation in the country.

Indeed, anyone who is a close observer of the nation’s judicial system since May 29, would agree that the delivery of justice is facing un-mitigated challenge and interference from external quarters. The aim of the interferences are targeted at manipulating the justice system to favour the political party at the centre, the APC.

Therefore, we have a situation where different tribunals and appellate courts deliver judgments on the platforms of the political affiliation of the affected litigants. In other words, the relevant laws, especially the constitution and the Electoral Act count for nothing. The judgments being churned out are mere political essays, but backed by the force of law because those reading the essays wear judicial robes and are constituted by the relevant judicial authorities.

Otherwise, these judgments on electoral matters, so far, are merely akin to the permutations of the chairmen of town unions. You know town union chairmen pass their rulings under the guidance of the powerful members of the unions, who would have instructed them to do so. Though these town unions have by-laws, they are hardly referred to.

President Buhari's 73rd Birthday Cakes

Beautiful (And Obviously Very Expensive) Birthday Cakes 
For President Muhammadu Buhari As Nigerians Endure What Could Safely Be Described As The Worst Economic Condition In Their Country's History... 

Global Climate Change – What Nigeria Must Do (1)

By Idowu Oyebanjo 

 The Federal Government of Nigeria must begin to look at the potential opportunities for Nigeria to derive maximum benefits from the outcomes of the on-going COP 21 United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) in Le Bourget, Paris. To achieve an optimum benefit for Nigeria, not only is it imperative that policy makers fully understand the social, economic, environmental, financial, technological and political issues around the subject, but the generality of Nigerians need to be widely aware of changes in the global village they live in especially in the way energy is to be viewed in the wider world around going forward. As the subject of Climate Change is somewhat technical, it may suffice to give a background on the subject before driving us through to the point we have reached so far. This is what these series of articles on the subject will try to achieve.

(pix: phys)

Early contributors to climate change include Fourier, Langley and Arrhenius. That the climate is changing is not contestable but what is being argued over the years borders on the main causes of climate change. Climate change is made possible by the increase in the atmospheric concentration of Green House Gases (GHG) such as Carbon IV Oxide (CO₂), Nitrous Oxide (NO₂), Methane (CH₄), Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), Perfluorocarbon (PFC), and Sulfurhexafluoride (SF₆). All these gases absorb terrestrial infra red radiations.

Corruption And The Rules Of Engagement

By Chuks Iloegbunam

The fight against cor­ruption has been dominating national discourse since the inception of the Buhari ad­ministration. The Rules of Engagement of the Nige­rian Armed Forces recently weighed in as a topic for de­bate. Discussions on corrup­tion have remained central for two reasons: Candidate Buhari indexed his presiden­tial campaign on it. And it is the one topic President Buhari seizes every opportunity to declaim impassioned commit­ment.

*President Buhari

At the annual Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation Lecture in Abuja last week, he was at his sanctimonious best: “Without our collective will to resist corrupt acts as a people, it will be difficult to win the war. Nigeria has been brought almost to her knees by decades of corruption and mismanagement of the public treasury. We must come to a point when we must all collec­tively say ‘Enough is Enough.’”

Unfortunately, the Presi­dent’s anti-corruption rheto­ric, and the manner his gov­ernment is prosecuting the war point to duplicity. This is because the fight against entrenched corruption can­not succeed unless it is sys­tematized. But Buhari’s anti-corruption war is bereft of system. It is selective. It is running on the wheels of me­dia hysteria. It is unconcerned with preventive measures. It is overloaded in censure and sanction. It is, therefore, bound to end in tragic failure. Commentators unwilling to acknowledge the foregoing cannot honestly claim to love the man or support his presi­dency.

Fuel Subsidy – Who Is Subsidizing Who?

By Izielen Agbon

“Who is subsidizing who? The Nigerian oil industry was developed with Nigerian capital. Most of the experts are Nigerians, if you go to the fields. It is Nigerian capital; it is Nigerian oil. What I understand that Nigeria should charge Nigerians is the cost of 1 barrel at the wellhead and then the cost of transportation to the refinery, the cost of refining it and its cost at the pump. If anybody says he is subsidizing anything, he is a fraud. So all these people talking about subsidy, who is subsidizing who?”

*Buhari 

A first year student of refinery economics knows that the “crack spread” is a simple way to determine the profitability of a refinery at the margin. The crack spread is the difference between the sales prices of the refined products (PMS, AGO, HHK) and the price of crude oil. A 3:2:1 crack spread means that at the margin, 3 barrels (bbls) of crude oil will produce 2 bbls of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and 1 bbl of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or Household Kerosine (HHK). A barrel of Nigerian oil now cost about $40. One bbl of PMS at N87/litre cost N14159 or $71.87 at a CBN exchange rate of N197/$1. The PPPRA product pricing template of December 3, 2015 put the cost of AGO at N96.91/litre or N15772 ($80.06) per bbl. 

Thus, the gross cracking margin for an average refinery in Nigeria is [(2*71.87) + 80.06 – (3*40)] or $103.8 per bbl. The 3:2:1 crack spread is $103.8/3 or $34.6 per bbl. We can substitute HHK for AGO. At N50/litre, one bbl of HHK cost N8137.5 or $41.31. Therefore, the gross cracking margin using PMS and HHK is [(2*71.87) + 41.31– (3*40)] or $65.05 per bbl. The 3:2:1 crack spread is $65.05/3 or $21.68 per bbl. It is empirically impossible to convince anyone that Nigerian refineries cannot operate profitably under an incorruptible efficient management or that a fuel subsidy exists. What exist is the looting of public resources by a cabal aided by a corrupt bureaucracy and gross mismanagement.

Today, you can buy a gallon of PMS from a Valero gas station in Houston, Texas for as low as $1.55 or N78.8 /litre. Prices range from $1.55 to $1.99 per gallon throughout the state. The $1.55/gallon price consists of USA Federal/State taxes (19%), Distribution and Marketing (11%), Refining Cost/Profits (13%) and Crude oil cost/profit (56%). Therefore, without any taxes, the PMS in Houston would cost 19% less or N63.83/litre. Unconvectional (shale) oil production has replaced all oil imports in Texas. They produce all their oil like Nigeria. 

Between Governor Oshiomhole And Comrade Oshiomole

By Denzel Chukwudinma

Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole is a popular name to the poor and indigent in Nigeria. This is consequent on his popularity when he was President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).

*Adams Oshiomole 

Oshiomhole came to limelight when, as a labour leader, he aggressively fought the anti-people policies of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Before then, Oshiomhole had been in the trenches fighting for the rights of the Nigerian workers. He was once a threat to factories that treat their workers in inhuman manner.

He was everywhere at the time. I remember when he visited Texlon on LSDPC Compound in Amuwo-Odofin in 1995 to issue a warning to the owners of that company, to desist from “casualisation” of their workers and stop every inhuman treatment.

Workers saw Oshiomhole as the hero they had waited for to salvage them from the claws of their ‘taskmasters’ who wanted them to work without pay. Oshiomhole was a compassionate, amiable and respected leader at that time.

Buhari Should Set Up A National Truth Commission To Determine The Sources Of Wealth Of Many Nigerians

PRESS RELEASE 

Why We Remain In Support OF Fight Against Corruption – PDP…. Demands Establishment Of A National Truth Commission

The Leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hereby reiterates its support for an honest, holistic and total war against corruption and we demand the trial and prosecution of all those involved, including those who may have returned ‘loots’ to the government.

However, we are completely against any one-sided public trial and mob conviction of accused persons without following the age-long and worldwide legal process wherein all accused persons are presumed innocent until the contrary is lawfully proved. We do not believe that mere investigation confers a guilt verdict on those concerned and the government should stop the brutal mob and public conviction of individuals and the transfer of the burden of proof of people being investigated.

We restate for emphasis that a media and public war against corruption is good, but it should not be limited to only those opposed to the President and the ruling party.  In fact, until top officials of the former government open up on the exact source of the funding, it remains premature to be accusing our party members of corrupt practices.

Nevertheless, if indeed the government’s investigation includes the expenditure of President Jonathan security votes from 2011, then it should be extended to a public inquisition on the following:

1. The security votes of all past Presidents and Heads of state from 1984.

2. The award of contracts by the Petroleum Trust Fund from 1995 to 1999.

3. The expenditure of our military purchases and expenditure during the Bakassi wars, the fight against militancy in the Niger Delta, military interventions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda among others.

4. The source of funding of the PDP and APC’s 2015 Presidential campaigns; the contributions from APC controlled state governors for their Presidential campaign and the beneficiaries thereof.

*Buhari 

5.                  The allegation that people were made ministers just to cover up the slush fund that they provided to finance the APC presidential campaign.

In the light of the way and manner of this government’s selective prosecution of the war against corruption, the PDP challenges the government to set up a National Truth Commission wherein politicians and other Nigerians publicly discuss the true meaning of corrupt practice in our land. This commission would also provide a platform for a proper public inquisition into the mind-boggling wealth of some Nigerians in public office.

Nigerians are quite eager to learn the business and investment tricks of past and present public officers in the APC fold, especially former governors, former ministers as well as their national leader, who suddenly acquired multi-billions investments and are now reputed to be the richest politicians in the country.

Nevertheless, if indeed President Muhammadu Buhari in anyway whatsoever desires to probe his opponent in the Presidential election, he should come out straight instead of going round in circles.

If indeed the government is interested in ending sleazes associated with campaign funds, the National Truth Commission will present an avenue for Nigerians to openly debate the issues therein with facts and figures.

If truly this government has provided hundreds of millions of naira to columnists, media analysts and commentators as well as social media writers and bloggers to castigate, denigrate and embarrass the PDP and its leaders, then the PDP, being a party that is out of power and especially against the present hostility of the security agencies, will publicly approach the Truth Commission with revelations backed with evidence, facts and figures.

Finally, we state categorically that the PDP will no longer allow major beneficiaries of its 16 years in power, especially those with a lot of proven baggage to attempt to adorn a sanctimonious apparel by castigating and denigrating a party on which platform they had the opportunity to serve.

Signed:

Chief Olisa Metuh

National Publicity Secretary

President Buhari And The Resurrection Of Corruption In The Award Of Honorary Degrees In Nigerian Universities

By Mohammed Jibo Imran

On Saturday, December 12, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari shocked the Nigeria’s academic community when he went to Kaduna State University, KASU and received an honorary doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) barely seven months after his inauguration.

*President Buhari displays his award certificate 

On the surface of it, one would be tempted to ask: is the president being honoured for his records of yesteryears or is he being honoured for his performance in the last seven month? If it is for his past records, the natural question is why now and why by KASU? That university existed for over a decade, why didn’t they honour Muhammadu Buhari last year or five years ago? If the honour is as a result of his present assignment, what has he done this far to earn him a honoris causa? Isn’t it a case of moral corruption for a serving president, who has a lot of favours to dish out, accept to receive an undeserved honorary doctorate degree from a state university whose vice chancellor was, in the last six months, queried by the Visitor to the University about three times?

Is it the case that, after the KASU formula, that the president will not attend the convocation ceremony of any university unless that university include the president as one its recipients of honorary doctorate degree. How not, since over a dozen universities have held their convocation ceremonies since the coming of PMB to office and he attended none, it is therefore safe to assume that his failure to attend was because they have not honoured him with a degree. These include the University of Ibadan, University of Benin, Obafemi Awolowo University, Federal University Owerri, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, etc. And none of them received the respect of the presence of the president. Now that KASU has shown the way, any university that wants the president to attend its convocation should simply include the president in the list of the recipients of its honoris causa. They are sure to have the president coming in person to be decorated.

The question is where is the shock? The president action is shocking for three reasons. First, his receiving an honorary doctorate degree, from any Nigerian University, while holding and elected public office is immoral, illegal and a crass violation of the existing regulation guiding the award of honoris causa in Nigeria’s University System. Section 2.0 subsection (a) of the famous Keffi Declaration which was enacted on the 24th September, 2012 by the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) stated that:

Zimbabwean Presidency: War Veterans Reject Grace Mugabe

WAR Veterans, a key power broker in Zanu PF, have amplified their calls for the party to appoint one of their own as national commissar and for the re-adoption of the women’s quota system in the presidium.

*Grace Mugabe (pix:Independent)

Crucially however, the ex-fighters made it clear that President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace, should remain where she is up “to 2018 and beyond”, suggesting they would not back her as party leader.

Grace heads the party’s Women’s League but is widely thought to be angling to take over from her soon-to-be 92 husband.

The Matabeleland and Bulawayo chapters of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), in a statement this week, took aim at Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko and party commissar Saviour Kasukuwere.

In a resolution which they said reflected the ZNLWVA national executive’s will, the war veterans demanded that “the political commissariat post of the party (Zanu –PF) be held by war veteran members with good revolutionary credentials.”

Since assuming this influential party position Kasukuwere, who is also a local government minister, has been on a collision course with war veterans, especially their leader Christopher Mutsvangwa.

Kasukuwere and Mutsvangwa have fallen out with both individuals reportedly plotting the ouster of the other from their influential and powerful positions.

Be Wary of Unbridled Ambitions – Mugabe Warns Party Leaders

Transcript President Robert Gabriel Mugabe's speech to the Central Committee at the ongoing 15th National People's Conference yesterday.

*President Robert Mugabe 

Cde Vice President and Second Secretary Emmerson Mnangagwa,

Cde Vice President and Second Secretary Phelekezela Mphoko,

The Secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo,

All Politburo members, and members of the Central Committee here present.

Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades and friends

May I welcome you all to the 15th National People's Conference's Central Committee meeting, which we are holding after our Politburo on Monday.

Comrades, as we meet today, all our departments have been hard at work mobilising people and other resources towards this year's annual people's conference.

We thank the party leadership in Matabeleland North for taking the lead and all the other provincial leaderships for co-operating closely with the host province. We all realise that the responsibility for ensuring an effective conference falls on all of us especially those of us in leadership at various levels of the party. Matabeleland North deserves all our support especially given the background on drought which has affected most of the country.

Cdes, we meet today as the Central Committee to review the party's performance in the year about to end, the year 2015. We are happy to note that there is ample evidence that the party is getting stronger and stronger by the day. What with the resounding victories that we have been scoring in all the recent by-elections. I want to say congratulations.

Those by-elections have been key to testing the strength of the party from the point of view of its membership, the efficacy of its organs, rules and mobilisation strategies and we can say for now, anyway, and I hope for the future also, for now we rule the roost and I hope we do so in the future.

We have gained foothold, nay embedded ourselves, in those areas hitherto perceived as the domain of the opposition. However, we should never allow complacency to set in. We must remain on our toes, remain on the road with meetings taking place in different parts of the country every week.

While credit for the good image and standing of the party is shared by all of us, allow me to single out the Women's League and the Commissariat for working tirelessly in mobilising and keeping the party alive. That is as it should be and should be all the time.

White Cop Convicted Of Serial Rape Of Black Women

Prosecutors alleged Daniel Holtzclaw preyed on poor, black women while on duty because no one would believe their claims in court. He was wrong.

Daniel Holtzclaw should be a household name. He should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. His criminal trial should be featured in the A-blocks of national news broadcasts.

We should be able recognize him on sight. We should be able to number and name the horrendous crimes he committed. Should he ever walk the streets again, he should enjoy not a single moment of anonymity.

Holtzclaw, a 28-year-old former Oklahoma City police officer, is a sexual predator who prosecutors say used his badge to rape at least 13 women over a seven-month period. The victims of his increasingly brazen pattern of attacks, prosecutors say, included an underage girl and a grandmother. Ranging in age from 17 to 57, all but one are black and all live in the same poverty-stricken, predominantly African-American neighborhood in the northeast section of the city.

They were picked because they were black and poor. They were picked because the perpetrator thought nobody would give a damn.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE STORY 

Allegations Of “Illegal Diversion” Of Abacha Funds Baseless - Okonjo-Iweala

PRESS RELEASE

As part of the campaign of falsehood against former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala by Edo Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and other powerful and corrupt interests, another baseless story has been published by some online media. 

*Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 

To achieve their evil propaganda objective of tarnishing her name, these evil elements have distorted the contents of a memo dated January 20, 2015 in which the former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala responded to a request by the former National Security Adviser, Col Ibrahim Dasuki (retired), for funds to prosecute the terror war against Boko Haram. 

Here are the facts:

·         The central responsibility of the Minister of Finance IS to find sources of funding for the financing of approved national priorities such as security, job creation and infrastructure. 

·         It will be recalled that throughout 2014, there were public complaints by the military hierarchy to President Goodluck Jonathan about the inadequacy of funds to fight the anti-terror war in the North East, resulting in Boko Haram making gains and even taking territories.  A lot of the criticism was directed at the Federal Ministry of Finance under Dr Okonjo-Iweala which was accused of not doing enough to find funds for the operations.

Rev King: Supreme Court Rules On Death Sentence Feb. 26

Press Release

The Supreme Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday fixed February 26, 2016 for judgment in the appeal filed by the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King challenging the judgment of a Lagos High Court sentencing him to death by hanging. The apex court presided over by Justice Walter Onoghen adjourned for judgment after entertaining arguments from counsel to prosecution and defense in the matter.

Lagos State Attorney general and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, who appeared before the Supreme Court alongside Mrs. Idowu Alakija, the Director of Public Prosecution  and other Senior Counsel in the State, urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower courts.

Ezeugo was arraigned on September 26, 2006 on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

He pleaded not guilty to the allegation but was sentenced to death by the then Justice Joseph Oyewole of Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on January 11, 2007 for the murder of one of his church members, Ann Uzoh.

Justice Oyewole is now a judge of Appeal Court sitting in the Calabar division.
The Lagos State Government had said that the convict poured petrol on the deceased and five other persons and that Uzoh died on August 2, 2006; 11 days after the act was perpetrated on her.

Adams Oshiomole: Losing The Shine So Soon?

By Uwa Eghomeka

I have read, first with discomfort, and then with something akin to horror, the words that have been attributed to my dear governor, Adams Oshiomhole. I call him “my dear governor” for two reasons; first, I am indigene of the nation’s big heart; and second, one of the ballot papers of the Edo state 2012 gubernatorial election bears my thumbprint. However, I am beginning to think that this may very well be the last time he will be labelled with such an endearment, at least by me.

*Gov Oshiomole 

As Labour leader, he was everyman’s hero; the voice of the people, the light in darkness. His booming voice and pointed remarks directed at those who were deemed oppressors were lauded because we believed that at the heart of all the drama was a man who believed in one thing-the people. As governor, we expected the transference of that passion into the governance of the state; we expected that he would demonstrate leadership, honesty, and respect for the people of his state; and with respectability too. We expected also that as our number one man, he would do so with some finesse and at the very least, a modicum of regard for the office and a huge dose of common sense. Sadly, we expected too much as Oshiomhole is now carried away with being more of a needless voice than functioning in the service of the people.

After The Onitsha Massacre

By Chuks Iloegbunam

One of the stories out of last week’s massacre in Onit­sha had to do with a uniformed man who sud­denly paced a few steps ahead of his cohorts, raised his as­sault rifle, trained it on Nkiru­ka Anthonia Ikeanyionwu, a 21-year old undergradu­ate, and pulled the trigger at pointblank range. Red-hot lead homed into her chest. The impact flattened her.

*Nkiru­ka Anthonia Ikeanyionwu: Shot dead by 

security agents during the pro-Biafra peaceful 

protests in Onitsha 

Blood spouted immediately, turning her light-blue dress crimson. She died instantly. She was armed – with her cell­phone! Her scandalized com­rades raised a concerted voice of protest but colleagues of the cowardly shooter covered him with their outstretched arms and led him to their backward formations. Some others re­portedly shot dead in similar circumstances were named as Chima Onoh (Enugu State), Kenneth Ogadinma (Abia State), Angus Chikwado and Felicia Egwuatu (Anambra State).

There was one weapon wielded by almost every par­ticipant or watcher of the demonstration that blockaded the Niger Bridge. That weap­on was the mobile phone. This has heightened incredulity re­garding some other stories in circulation. Since every mo­bile phone has a camera and a cine-camera, was it possi­ble that major aspects of the Onitsha demonstration could have passed unrecorded? How come that, of the thou­sands of photographs taken on the bloody day, there was no single frame and no sin­gle clip that captured a single demonstrator who was armed with a bludgeon, a machete, a gun, or an explosive device? Some were armed with the Bi­ble, singing Christian hymns. Some were armed with the Biafran flag. Most were armed with mobile phones. Yet, their members were rewarded with hails of gunfire!

A fabulous story claimed that the pro-Biafra agitators had burnt down the Onitsha Central Mosque. How come that, to this day, not a single photograph of the incinerated mosque is available for public viewing? Another fantastic story claimed that the dem­onstrators torched branded Dangote vehicles. Why, then, is it that not a single picture of a single one of the burnt vehi­cles is on exhibition anywhere in the world? On the night of the demonstrations, the Sabon Gari Market in Kano went up in flames. Pictures abound of the burnt market; films exist of the market burning. How come that, as concerns Onit­sha, there is no pictorial evi­dence of violent demonstra­tions, no pictorial evidence of the “burnt” mosque, and no pictures of the “torched” Dan­gote vehicles?

Biafra As Nightmare And Fantasy

By Okey Ndibe

I have been distressed beyond words by what has crystallized as an agitation for Biafra’s divorce from Nigeria. I am disturbed that this agitation has become another occasion for the Nigerian state to demonstrate its disdain for the rule of law and the rights of citizens. I’m appalled by the violence spawned by the actions of the agitators and the state’s reaction. The immediate impetus for the violent turn is the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), indeed the rabble rouser-in-chief of the neo-Biafran cause.

The government ought to release Mr. Kanu immediately, both because that’s the wisdom of the court and it’s the quickest way to defuse tension.

But Mr. Kanu’s release will not, by itself, erase the frenzied propagation of Biafra, an idea that represents a nightmare to some, and a fantasy to others. Sooner or later—sooner, one hopes, than later—Nigeria has to confront the inescapable question of what it means to be called a Nigerian.

That question (or the reluctance to engage it in any serious and sustained way) is one reason Nigeria has remained an alien and alienating idea, and susceptible to frequent acts of rejection by its ostensible citizens. Periodically, those expressions of everyday individual resentment and disaffection build into mass resistance.

It’s important to put the agitation for Biafra in the broader context of Nigerians’ longstanding disillusionment with their country. For the avoidance of doubt, this is no new phenomenon. Nigeria’s two literary giants, Wole Soyinka and the late Chinua Achebe, have wrestled with the confounding matter of Nigeria. A few years ago, Nobel laureate Soyinka asserted at a series of talks he gave at Harvard University that there was no nation yet in the space called Nigeria. Years earlier, Achebe had said to me in an interview that Nigeria had not yet been founded.

Nothing in the two writers’ claims amounted to a repudiation of Nigeria as such. No, they were making what I’d call statements of fact. The fact that Nigeria had yet to achieve a sense of national identity did not imply that such a prospect was doomed. I’d say that the two writers were warning the rest of us about what needed to be done in order to translate the abstract, ill-formed idea called Nigeria into a concrete, organic, salutary and regenerative reality.