Nigerians And The Xenophobes

By Paul Onomukpokpo

If William Shakespeare lived in the 21st century, Shylock might not have made the foil to Antonio. After all, with the prodigious inroads of the Jews into every realm of human endeavour- ranging from the arts to the sciences and high-profile businesses – the respect they have earned would have served as an impregnable bulwark against any fecund imagination desirous of casting them in the mould of the greediest and despicably and mercilessly shrewdest species of the human race. 

Not even those segments of humanity that Donald Trump considers irredeemably reprobate and terroristic and thus places under his travel ban would sufficiently embody the vices that Shakespeare would have associated with that foil. But if Shakespeare had looked at Nigeria, he might have successfully ended his quest. 

Awolowo, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) And The Barbarians

By Banji Ojewale

It has been said of Obafemi Awolowo, Western Nigeria’s first premier, that like Roman Empire’s first emperor, Augustus Caesar, he was ‘’an efficient organizer’’ and a ‘’great builder’’ who struck several feats that have remained unmatched in Nigeria’s record books several decades after his rule. In his severally referenced book, An Outline History of the World, H. A. Davies notes that Augustus appeared to have fulfilled his boast that ‘’he had found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble.’’ He transformed Rome from a small republic not only into an empire, but also into a civilization that has influenced world history over the ages.

*Awolowo Obafemi

With Awolowo, there are also parallels that are engraved on marble. As premier from 1954 to 1959, when Nigeria was yet a dependent colonial outpost of Britain, he ran a government that has since been rated the golden era of the southwest, the outer region of the area stretching eastwards to the banks of the Niger also  being beneficiaries. Awolowo introduced free education, the first in our clime. He then embarked upon a voyage of social reforms that heavily subsidized health to announce to the world the arrival of a socialist, even if of the centrist hue.

Between The Patience Of A President And The Truculence Of A Party Man

By Banji Ojewale

Between the patience of a president and the truculence of a party man, there is a hungry chasm spoiling to swallow the whole nation. President Muhammadu Buhari says his second coming is going to be a calculated departure from the past, when he and his party were shy to run an inclusive government on account of the sharply divisive politics that preceded his advent. 

*Buhari 

So now, although the cloud of bitter politics is still overcast, Buhari says he’s about to deal with it through patiently accommodating interests outside his political family. That is the reasonable and guarded interpretation most watchers are giving his declaration after his victory at the poll of February 23.

Nigeria: Police March Of Murders

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Whenever trigger-happy cops kill an innocent citizen, they have only given expression to the adversarial relationship they have cultivated with the rest of the citizens. They have not done anything different from what others who occupy positions of authority do. Those who preside over the affairs of our nation see society as bifurcated between themselves and the rest of the citizens who should be subjected to ill treatment at their hands. 

To them, government does not exist for the people but for a handful of leaders and a coterie of their loyalists. Or why do our leaders not feel the pain of the citizens? How would our leaders feel the pain of driving on a pothole-ridden road when they fly above it? Would they feel the pain of being treated in a slaughterhouse that is outlandishly christened a general or teaching hospital when they fly abroad for medical treatment at the expense of the taxpayers?

Pius Adesanmi: The Human Oxymoron Politicians Must Learn From

By Banji Ojewale

Professor Toyin Falola has put it most concisely: Pius Adesanmi is the man who leaves and lives. He argues that although Adesanmi is leaving the scene, still he lives. He’s gone, but he’s not done. He’s gone, but he’s still on. He’s dead, but not dusted. There is more to Falola’s dirge than the lyrical alliteration.

*Professor Pius Adesanmi 

There’s also more to the oxymoron of a departure that yet defies an exit. To capture or press a point, you must confront it with its alter ego. To prove Adesanmi 'lives' on, you challenge his death with the greater fact of what he has left behind that offers assurance of his being alive, as it were. You put the two opposite each other: Adesanmi’s death and his works and life that touched many he seems to have left orphaned.

Cyclone In Africa: Going To Afghanistan

By Banji Ojewale

In nineteen eighty four, when we all stood in awe of Decree Four;  to differ from officialdom as represented by Nigeria’s military junta headed by Muhammadu Buhari was a perilous path to perdition. The soldiers brooked no dissent as they waved the draconian law before all, notably newsmen.

The law, the most outrageous and pernicious by any military dictator in Nigeria, forbade reporters from publishing or broadcasting what the authorities ‘’calculated to bring the Federal Military Government or the Government of a State or a public officer to ridicule or disrepute.’’

Nigeria: Delta’s And Bauchi’s Brutal Schools

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

How much our public schools are not yet primed for the production of the geniuses and patriots of the future is often borne out by the insalubrious developments in them that have become their regular features.

This is not a blight that is peculiar to the public tertiary educational institutions. Their sad fate roils the public imagination simply because the teachers at this educational level easily find a voice under the auspices of their associations such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to express their perennial grievances.

Yes, Atiku Should Go To Court

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

The decision of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to wage a legal challenge against the proclamation of President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the February 23, 2019 presidential election has not received the encouragement of a few informed minds in the country.

*Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar

One respected voice, for instance, thinks that Atiku should instead join hands with other well-meaning Nigerians, the civil society and like-minded politicians to help to properly set up and strengthen democratic structures capable of hamstringing the repeat in future elections of the large-scale malpractices that allegedly marred the last elections – an issue that constitutes the main plank of Atiku’s suit.

Calm Down Nigerians, It’s Only Four Years!

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

Early on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, by 4.40 am and four days after the presidential election held in Nigeria on Saturday, February 23, the Chairman of the ‘Independent’ National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, announced that Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been reelected Nigeria’s president. What this means is that, if the legal challenge being undertaken by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, comes out unfruitful, the next four years will see Gen Buhari piloting the affairs this country. 

*President Buhari 

President Buhari has already warned Nigerians to expect four years of excruciating hardship. He, reportedly, called it “tough times” which he said would be far worse than what Nigerians experienced in his first term, and I have no reason to doubt him. Obviously, he does not want to once again mesmerize us with tantalizing promises which would only end up advertising his inability to redeem them. He is telling us exactly what to expect so we can brace up for this really tough journey through the wilderness.

Two Easiest Jobs In Nigeria

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Despite the varied perfidy that sullied the recent elections, they are not irredeemably impaired after all. They have provided us with some vital lessons to navigate our labyrinthine political space. Clearly, they have once again jarred us into the consciousness of our seemingly indissoluble deficit in political enlightenment. 

It is such a societal malaise that propels the citizens to cast their votes without knowing the explicit reason they are doing this. In their minds, these remain unresolved posers: Is it really for the vote-buying lucre that is transacted far from the prying eyes of other citizens? Is it on account of the candidate’s past performance either in private or public offices that redounded to the well-being of the citizens?

Nigeria: Between Election Violence And The Spoils Of Office

By Banji Ojewale

In rivers and bad governments the lightest things swim at the top — Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American scientist and philosopher.

Nigeria’s elections are always a period of hemorrhage, seasons of internecine bloodletting, that, strangely, does not bring down our population. Just do a study of our cyclical polls. None came and went away without taking away precious souls. They have all soaked us in blood either before, during or after the ballot. Even the June 12, 1993 presidential contest we celebrate didn’t consummate its benignity. It wasn't allowed to. 

The vampires showed up to ruin the chance to dance. They annulled what Providence offers only once in a lifetime. What we got on the proverbial silver platter, we have since been looking for in a golden platter. It’s been quite an agonizing quest, made unbearable by the high toll in the lives we lose when we blow the whistle for electioneering.

Second Term: Can Buhari Reinvent Himself?

By Banji Ojewale

…we will continue to engage all parties
that have the best interest of Nigerians at heart.
Our government will remain inclusive
and our doors will remain open.
That is the way to build the country of our dream – Muhammadu Buhari, after being announced winner of 2019 presidential poll.

*President Buhari 

In our traditional winner-takes-all approach to elections, and with Nigeria more sundered now than at any other time in our history, the only sane path to follow in order to heal poll-inflicted wounds and distrust and draw all back into the common ground, is a resort to an inclusive government President Buhari is talking about. He has also pleaded with his party members and supporters to be reticent in excitement.

President Buhari’s Militocracy

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Unless the citizens resolve to prosecute an urgent rescue agenda, the nation’s hard-won democracy would collapse at the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari. And above the rubble would be autocracy and anarchy. These are not far-fetched. We already have their precursor in the now burgeoning militocracy whose chief promoter is Buhari.

*President Buhari 

Ever since Buhari succeeded in conning the citizens with his pretensions to being a born-again democrat, he has never hidden his contempt for the obligations of his newly-found calling. Yet, the citizens make allowance for the blossoming of the democrat in him. But the more they expect him to demonstrate the readiness to abide by the tenets of democracy, the more they are disappointed.

Has President Buhari Forgotten Leah Sharibu?

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

As President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, moved from one state to another, campaigning for a second term despite nearly four years in office which has been widely adjudged a horrendous failure, a 15-year old, tender, innocent girl named Leah Sharibu remained a hapless, pathetic, traumatized captive of Boko Haram terrorists, obviously,  under the most dehumanising conditions.

*Leah Sharibu 

Given what has, reportedly, been the horrible experiences of young, beautiful girls like her who have been captured by these terrorists, one is really scared to imagine what Leah might have been subjected to for nearly one year now. Most painful is that she hardly gets mentioned again these days by those whose job it is to rescue and bring her home!

'NIGERIA: Why Looting May Not Stop' – The Book Every Nigerian Should Read!

Now Available on AMAZON

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS IT ON AMAZON

Excerpt from the blurb:

''…Graphically presented in this book is the complicated case of a pathetically malformed giant in continuous, clearly avoidable decline where institutionalised corruption, misgovernance, mediocrity and, worse, collaborative passivity (or even outright solidarity) with thieving public officers by sections of the citizenry, have joined forces to continue grossly diminishing and degrading a generously endowed country…''

--------------------------------------

This book might make you sad and angry (and it should); but it should motivate you to do what is possible and needful to salvage your country…

Time to halt the rot…

 

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS IT ON AMAZON

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You Can Also Get You Copies In Lagos At The Following Bookshops 

SURULERE

---------------------------

ShopRite, Surulere 

(Patabah Bookshop) Shop B18

ShopRite Complex

Adeniran Ogunsanya Street,

Surulere, Lagos

08091025092

---------------------------------

Muritala Mohammed Airport, 

Lagos (MMA1 - For Air Peace and Arik Air)

'Old Local' 
Arrival Hall Book Stand

-----------------------------                                                                       

LAGOS ISLAND

----------------------

CIBN BOOKSHOP

Bankers House

PC 19, Adeola Hopewell Street,

Victoria Island, Lagos

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IKEJA

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Glendora Bookshop

ShopRite

Ikeja City Mall

 Alausa, Ikeja

Lagos

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OWERRI 

Departure Hall 

Sam Mbakwe Airport, 

Owerri, Imo State 

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IBADAN 

University of Ibadan Bookshop,

Ibadan

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MORE BOOKSHOPS TO BE ANNOUNCED

Distributors and Bookstores should call ‘Prof’ :07068390310

Remembering Bola Ige

By Abiodun Komolafe

Ethno-religious leanings or socio-political ideology notwithstanding, it is almost improbable for any society to underestimate the contributions of some people to the emancipation of its people and the realization of the dream of its founding fathers. For instance, America will forever remain grateful to the likes of Martin Waldseemuller, Stephen Moylan, George Washington and Martin Luther King Jnr. for their contributions, one way or the other, to the realization of the American dream as a land of equal opportunity for all.

*Bola Ige 

In like manner, China’s economy wouldn’t have become “the fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history” to the extent of having “lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty” but for the political sagacity and economic ingenuity of leaders like Chairman Mao Zedong and Den Xiaoping.

Buhari, El-Rufai And Other Body Bag Democrats

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Any doubt about the nation being imperilled by its warped leadership recruitment has been counteracted by sundry developments in this electoral season. We are again confronted with the stark reminder that in over five decades, those we have entrusted with leadership have often unravelled as a bunch of incompetents who strive to plumb the nadir of retrogression. Thus, the tragedy is that in every epoch, the messiah we think has been thrown up to reverse the savage depredations of his predecessor uncannily considers himself as holding the mandate of surpassing the greed and a lack of direction of past national villains.

*President Buhari and Gov El-Rufai 

 To be sure, this bleak state of national affairs becomes inevitable as long as it is not those who have prepared for leadership that we allow to lead. We are neither attracted to them by the incipient genius in leadership they have demonstrated in community service nor their championing of a pro-people cause. Eventually, those we are saddled with as leaders, in the words of Nasir El-Rufai are “accidental public servants.” 

Nigeria: Only Fools Die For Looters!

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

A chapter in my new book, “NIGERIA: Why Looting May Not Stop” (which will be in bookstores in Lagos next week) is entitled, ‘Dying For Looters.’

Tomorrow (Feb 16, 2019) is the presidential and national assembly elections in Nigeria. One very sad, painful truth is that there are some fellows who call themselves “party supporters” who may not live to see the end of the voting exercise tomorrow or hear the results declared. 

Buhari Not Wanted On This Journey

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Until after the election of Saturday, we are denied the prescience to tabulate its winner and losers and thus the nation’s president in the next four years. Clearly, poll predictions, even when they seem to be highly informed, have oftentimes been trumped by reality. But one thing is certain: We should be preoccupied with a post-Buhari era if we are genuinely interested in the continued existence of the country . In other words, the citizens should muster sufficient patriotic fervour to consign the re-election ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari to the realm of unrestrained fantasy.

*President Buhari 

The country is on the cusp of a new era where Buhari does not fit in. For in less than four years, we have seen enough of the president to be secure in the conviction that he is a blight not only on the nation’s corporate existence but also on individual citizens’ lives. Or why has Buhari’s second coming brought so much hardship to the citizens? Why has he been a source of massive unemployment resulting in several suicides?

The Flowing Tears Of Leah Sharibu

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

As President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, moves from one state to another, campaigning for a second term despite nearly four years in office which has been widely adjudged a horrendous failure, a 15-year old, tender, innocent girl named Leah Sharibu remains a hapless, pathetic, traumatized captive of Boko Haram terrorists, obviously,   under the most dehumanising conditions.

*Leah Sharibu

Given what has, reportedly, been the horrible experiences of young, beautiful girls like her who have been captured by these terrorists, one is really scared to imagine what Leah might have been subjected to for nearly one year now. Most painful is that she hardly gets mentioned again these days by those whose job it is to rescue and bring her home!