Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' @60: Inaugural Press Conference

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Professor Chinua Achebe's seminal novel, Things Fall Apart. 

Nigeria: Of False Narratives And Killer Herdsmen

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

It was Thomas Hobbes, the 17th century English philosopher, who in his seminal work Leviathan put a magnifying lens on “the natural condition of mankind.” All humans are by nature equal in faculties of body and mind, he argued, and therefore, “During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called warre … of every man against every man,” a natural condition he elucidated with the Latin phrase bellum omnium contra omnes (war of all against all).

“The life of man” in the state of nature, Hobbes famously wrote, is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

In the state of nature, security was impossible for anyone, and the fear of death dominated every aspect of life. Being rational, man sought to reverse this nihilistic status quo. Therefore, since in the state of nature “all men have a natural right to all things,” to assure peace, men must give up their right to some things, and Hobbes asserted that an individual’s transfer of some of his rights to another is offset by certain gains for himself.

IGP Ibrahim Idris, The Conqueror Of Benue

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

It is not garlands from the citizens for a successful prosecution of an agenda to fight crime that Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris hankers after. There is a bigger prize he is ready to give up anything for, including his professional credibility – to be in the eternal annals of the herdsmen’s war of 2017 and 2018 as the conqueror of Benue.

*President Buhari and IGP Idris

Benue might just be the ultimate trophy for Idris. He might have considered victory in other parts of the country, including southern Kaduna, the south-east, south-south and south-west less stellar. In the south-west, for instance, a prominent son of the region, a former minister and secretary to the government of the federation, Olu Falae, has been subjected to traumatic experiences ranging from kidnapping to the burning of his farm by Fulani herdsmen.

Nigeria: Three Old Men In The Ring

By Dare Babarinsa

The people of Lafia trooped out last Tuesday to welcome the nation’s number one citizen to Nasarawa State. The enthusiastic welcome was an indication that Buhari still packs a lot of muscle and those who are thinking of taking him on should consider what they are up against. However, it is clear too that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is restive and rebellion is rearing its head from unexpected quarters. This is more so when its reign, despite the resounding victory Buhari recorded in 2015, now seems precarious if not endangered.

*Babangida, Obasanjo and Buhari 

 Buhari is the first politician to lead the progressive camp to victory at the Federal level. All attempts in the past, in 1959, 1964, 1979, 1983 and since the return of democratic rule in 1999 have failed before the tumultuous ride to power by Citizen Buhari. Now he is facing allegations of reckless partisanship, unblinking nepotism and of heart-breaking incompetence. It does not help matters that some terrorist elements have succeeded in hijacking the sporadic burst of violence by suspected Fulani herdsmen and have killed more Nigerians under the watch of Buhari than even the notorious Boko Haram insurgents.

Nigeria: Emerging Dangers Ahead Of 2019

By Ariyo-Dare Atoye

Against the backdrop of rising political threats in the polity, Nigeria may be in for yet another rough, vexatious and grueling prelude to another ritual of elections in 2019. The signs are no less ominous: from the destruction of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) secretariat in Borno State to the shamefully organised threats that forced a two-time governor of Kano, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to suspend his visit to the state for his scheduled series of political rallies.

*Buhari

Palpable tension is gradually building up and at the centre of it all, is the ruling All Progressives Congress.  At a rally held by the APC faction of Kano Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in the state on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, hundreds of youth were seen brandishing various kinds of weapons.  

Nigeria: Who And Where Are The Criminals?

By Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

“Everyone is talking about crime. Tell me, who are the criminals?” So sang, more than forty years ago, the Jamaican artiste Peter Torsh in his album “Equal rights”. Today, that question has become extraordinarily pertinent in our beloved country Nigeria. Here in Nigeria, we talk of crimes: armed robbery, kidnapping, and now, murder by herdsmen.  But who and where are the criminals?  Are we pretending not to know them?  And are we pretending not to know where they are?  But our God of JUSTICE looks on!

*Cardinal Okogie

Nigerians are familiar with the drama of parade of suspects. On prime time television, the police treats us to it. Some men and women are apprehended by the police, made to sit by dangerous weapons, and paraded as criminals.  And the story ends there.  We hear of no prosecution, no conviction, no sentencing. 

Nigeria: The Fulani Herdsmen Militia Siege

By Alade Rotimi-John

There is an urgent requirement to investigate the circumstances, strategy, tactics and ultimate objective of the post – Pax Britannica oligarchy drawn primarily from among the descendants or heirs of the 1804 Uthman dan Fodio jihadist movement. It is necessary to identify their motives among which may be reasonably presumed the foisting of the movement’s ideology on all the constituent parts of modern Nigeria. To the extent that the mindless attacks of the Fulani herdsmen militia are targeted at communities that share dissimilar religio-ethnic views with theirs; also to the extent of the attacks’ deeply primordial nature our investigation becomes all the more important. A disinterested outcome of our investigation is likely to reveal or locate the truth of our search in the interstices of history.

The indigenous people of Nigeria never had to engage the kind of hostile or condescending external forces which the Fulani jihadists unleashed on them in the 19th century. The people’s social conduct had been deeply marked by the historical context of their livelihood.

Buhari: The Making Of A Tragic Hero

By Abraham Ogbodo

The Aristotelian perspective defines the tragic hero as being complete in all the indices of greatness, but lacking in an essential character trait that makes all the difference. This is called the tragic flaw in literary theory and criticism. But for this tiny character failure, which occasions the tragedy, the tragic hero will have arrived safely at destination in the great journey called life.

*President Buhari

This was when tragedy was defined as the exclusive experience of kings and princes. That definition changed with the advent of the 20th Century American playwright and essayist, Arthur Miller, who made every man (not only noble men) a tragic hero.

Nigeria: The Decline Of Female Politicians

By Paul Onomuakpokpo
Through their numerous feats in different spheres of human endeavour, many a woman has vitiated the wrongheaded diatribe of the iconoclastic German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche that “when a woman has scholarly inclinations there is something wrong with her sexuality.”

Clearly, women could justifiably declaim against Nietzsche’s notion of woman as God’s second mistake. But it is not unlikely that Nietzsche’s opinion would have enjoyed a fair measure of validity if he had had the Nigerian woman in mind and declared that she suffers an unhinged sexuality as long as she has political inclinations. Nietzsche’s postulation could even be much more valid in a place like Saudi Arabia where women only secured the right to vote in just about three years ago.

Nigeria: A Season Of Scandals

By Bright Emenena

Lest we forget, like many past government, this administration rode to power on the back of the promise to fight corruption. It is safe to say though, that more than any previous administration, the present administration comes top on the perception that a government will actually fight corruption. For many Nigerians, the one reason why this government was voted into power was the belief that corruption which was perceived as the problem of Nigeria shall be brought to a stop.

President Buhari then General Buhari was the symbol of this perception. For many who voted for him, he was an embodiment of integrity, a man capable of doing no evil, an incorruptible disciplinarian and in their view, was what Nigeria needed at the time. He was even applauded by many when he claimed he could not afford the presidential nomination form of his party despite having served as a military head of state, a key player in another military government adjudged as most corrupt by both local and international bodies, a former military governor, a petroleum minister and chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), an agency that was also alleged of corruption. This was perceived by his supporters as evidence of his incorruptibility.

Nigeria's Unending Leadership Crisis

By Dan Amor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo's recent bombing of President Muhammadu Buhari does not make him a better candidate for national heroism. After all, the outcome of his letter to former President Goodluck Jonathan is the person whom he has just attacked. If care is not taken, the next president in 2019 might even be worse than Buhari. This is not a death wish for my beloved country. Never. Far from it!

*Babangida, Buhari, Obasanjo, Shagari and Jonathan

But Nigeria is a nation of experts without roots. We are always creating tacticians who are blind to strategy and strategists who cannot even take a step. And when the culture has finished its work the institutions handcuff the infirmity. But what is at the centre of the panic which is our national culture since we are not yet free to choose our leaders? Seeing how ineligible dunces who don’t even understand the secret of their private appeal, talk-less of what the nation needs jostle for power, I realize all over again that Nigeria is an unhappy contract between the Rich and the Poor. It is not that Nigeria is altogether hideous, it is even by degrees pleasant, but for an honest observer, there is never any salt in the wind.

President Buhari: Welcome To Reality

By Onuoha Ukeh

It is a dawn of new reality in Nigeria. Nigerians, as a people, and Nigeria, as a country, are now better informed about “the state of things as they actually exist,” as distinct from “idealistic or notional idea of them.” At present, nobody can be hoodwinked. As they say, he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. Nigerians of all classes know the bad state of things in the country. They wear the shoe. They know where it pinches. And they are expressing themselves in various ways.

*Buhari 

Within the week, former President Olusegun Obasanjo left nobody in doubt about his realisation that Muhammadu Buhari’s government is a disaster. The Owu man who, directly and indirectly, supported the election of Buhari in 2015, could no longer pretend. Looking at the state of things, he made a conclusion to the effect that things are going from bad to worse. He did not mince words in saying that Buhari should “consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age.” 

President Buhari And Obasanjo’s Red Card

By Wale Sokunbi

If the widespread support of the people is the sole determinant of the outcome of electoral contests in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari may well be on his way to kissing the presidency goodbye in 2019. Irrespective of his desire or otherwise to seek another term in office, it is actually becoming very difficult to imagine how he could ride over the growing gale of disenchantment with his person and government, especially in the Southern part of the country, to win a second term in office.

*Buhari 

What initially began like the mumblings of disgruntled elements of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had just been routed from power in the early days of the Buhari administration soon turned into a howl over the new government’s tardiness in forming its cabinet, which took all of five months. The government’s roaring nepotism and disregard of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of the country in its appointments also helped in no way to decrease its approval ratings.

Beyond Obasanjo’s Letter To Buhari

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

No profound insight has been offered in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s declaration of President Muhammadu Buhari as having not passed muster. He only articulated what has not only been in the public domain but has equally been kept in focus in the domestic sphere of the president. Of course, we cannot forget so soon that Aisha, the First Lady, has been warning her husband of the political misfortune that could trail his re-election bid if he fails to make necessary amends and rescue his governance style from being a blight on the citizens’ lives. Even in the early days of this government when it was still unvarnished amid the seeming towering popularity of Buhari and when the whimpers of protest against his lack of leadership acumen were easily dismissed as emanating from ‘wailers’ who were nostalgic for a dark past of the nation, Mrs. Buhari was already giving forebodings of the sad end of this administration.

*President Buhari and Obasanjo 

Yet, we must appreciate the significance of Obasanjo’s letter which lies in its ineluctably ominous character. Obasanjo could be seen as an angel of death or an undertaker whose letters only serve as the hearse to convey a government that has irredeemably crashed to its grave. This was the case of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

On President Buhari, I Stand With Obasanjo

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Again, we are in the political silly season. Not that it just kicked off. No, Nigeria is a country in a permanent state of politicking. In reality, there is never time for governance. The end of one election circle jumpstarts another and the actions of incumbents are informed not by the desire to deliver on good governance but the need to win the next election.

*Obasanjo and Buhari 

So, ministers and board members of government agencies are appointed not on the basis of capacity and competence, but who has the political muscle and “structure” to deliver on the next election. Ditto for heads of security agencies who are appointed on extraneous considerations such as who helped in rigging the previous election and who can be counted upon in the next election.

Can Obasanjo’s ‘Letter Bomb’ Cause Buhari Electoral Fatality?

By Fredrick Nwabufo

 I was in a meeting when former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s “letter bomb” rent the “news-sphere”. When I received the news alert, I hastened my business because I was seized by capricious anxiety to read the former president’s missive.

*Obasanjo and Buhari 

I must say, Obasanjo has taken the art of letter-writing to an enchanted stratosphere. And I admire his preferred means of intervening in Nigeria’s socio-political malaise. 

Nigeria: Who Are Fulani Herdsmen?

By Hope Eghagha

Bala: What is this big noise and cry over herdsmen?

Ankpa: Have you been sleeping Bala? Don’t you know the terrorists, the bloody murderers, masquerading as herdsmen?

Bala: How can cattle-rearers be killers? Their business is cattle-rearing, not killing people.

Ankpa: That’s what we thought until we found some going about with AK 47 guns!

Bala: Are you sure the Boko Haram scoundrels, those anti-Islam elements have not infiltrated the herdsmen group?
Ankpa: that is left for the State to fish out. 

Nigeria Is On The Boil Again

By Dan Amor

There is a lamentable and disturbing magnitude of violence in Nigeria. So is crime. The country is constantly on the boil. The atmosphere in the country has been nothing but a tawny volcano. The situation conveys at once the chief features of the Nigerian spirit: it is vertical, spontaneous, immaterial, upward. It is ardent. And even as tongues of fire do, it turns into fire everything it touches. What we are experiencing today is induced by poverty, hunger, frustration, apathy, desperation and sectional or tribal expansionist ambition.

In the midst of the misery and lack that is the lot of our youth and other Nigerians, a few Nigerians are still swimming in affluence and under the best security system and protection one can think of. What has indeed compounded the Nigerian misfortune is the sheer bravado, if not braggadocio with which Fulani herdsmen are butchering other Nigerians on a large scale across the country. This is even happening without the sitting government raising an eyebrow against it. Many Nigerians even believe that the Federal Government of President Buhari is culpable in the mass hysteria afflicting the country. It hardly seems a time for timidity and restraint.

Buhari’s Presidency: Facts And Fiction

By Abraham Ogbodo

I am worried about the ongoing narrative that Nigerians desired a change from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) misrule and agreed in 2015 to kick out Goodluck Jonathan and vote in Muhammadu Buhari as President.

Nothing sounds more fraudulent. Was there a consensus at anytime on that? The answer is no. Rather, the Buhari presidency was a risk specifically undertaken by a tiny but powerful clique solely for its benefit and not the benefit of Nigerians.

*Jonathan and Buhari

Now that the risk has failed and woefully too, the same clique is trying to change the narrative and make the mistake look like everybody’s mistake. It will not happen. I know the truth is always a casualty when history is being hurriedly written from many perspectives. But not this time please because I am going to tell the truth to shame the devil and stop it from escaping with vain glory. 

How President Buhari Falsified Professor Achebe's Greatest Thesis

By Jimanze Ego-Alowes

I have a certain interest in President Muhammadu Buhari. It is not as a fellow citizen. My interest in Buhari is as an object of study. And this is in the course of my day job as an independent scholar, a lay historian.

*Chinua Achebe

And matters get interesting. It is only that one small aspect is missing. To some preempt oneself, one wishes that Professor Chinua Achebe was well and alive. Achebe is the lead and most famous proponent of the thesis that the problem of Nigeria is a problem of leadership deficit. And it is all well with and for us.