ASUU In The Age Of Nastiness

 By Tony Afejuku

Let me enter my column straightaway with these observations: I did not think of dwelling on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at this point in time after the series of straight five weeks series I terminated but did not conclude not long ago on the universities’ dons’ abject take-home remunerations. Of course, I knew that I would revisit the subject of our universities’ lecturers’ contaminated and adulterated remunerations – but now is not the time.

For a minute or two let me keep you in abeyance with respect to the current engagement. But the title is influenced somewhat by an ardent reader of this column who is himself a first-rate columnist penning for an equally very popular tabloid.

2023 And Southeast Presidency: Quislings Beware!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

This is an election season like no other. Everything is defying logic. For instance, how does one explain the fact that when the All Progressives Congress, APC, decided to sell its presidential nomination form at a whopping N100 million, an amount so outrageous in an economy where the minimum wage is N30,000, and many thought the only reason for the ridiculous hike was to scare aware “unserious” aspirants, that was when every Tom, Dick and Harry, joined the fray.

With the latest declarations on Wednesday of Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta, in Akwa Ibom, and Dr Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State, in Abuja, there are now at least 14 aspirants jostling for the APC ticket.

Does APC Deserve Another Tenure In Abuja?

 By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

One of the strengths of democracy is the power of the people to determine who leads the country. Fixed tenures are a way of making politicians subject themselves to the will of the people at the end of a cycle. As a result, in countries where democracy is practised, the average politician is often conscious of the next elections. The electorate must be satisfied with performance before voting a party back to power. In some jurisdictions, for example, in most African countries, the electorate is often confronted with making a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, between the lesser of the two evils.

At the national level, the APC government has been in power for seven odd years, led by President Muhammadu Buhari. If we were to judge the national government on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Security, Education, Employment, Social Security, Business climate, Inflation, Infrastructure, Corruption Index, the party should stand no chance of winning the elections in 2023.

Do You Want Nigeria Buried? Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Ask Ango Abdullahi, Others

 

*Clark 

Press Release

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has cautioned Political Parties and political Stakeholders not to tinker with the issue of zoning and rotation of political offices especially, the presidency. Warning that doing so would further threaten the bear threads of the Nation's unity.  

SMBLF particularly took exception to a recent statement credited to the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Alhaji Ango Abdullahi that zoning is “dead and buried”. 

SMBLF says it is rather unfortunate and absurd that Ango Abdullahi and his Northern Elders Forum would make such twaddle.  Are they now ready to dissolve the country? What has happened that zoning, which has been a _sine qua non_ in the nation’s political progression has now become a “dead and buried” issue, in the irrational contemplations of Ango Abdullahi and his co-travellers? Could it be due to the incapacity, insipidity and disastrous performance of the Buhari administration or the narcissistic desire to perpetuate  Hausa/Fulani Hegemony? 

Is Goodluck Jonathan A Beautiful Bride?

 By Ray Ekpu

The crowd that is chanting Run, Jonathan, Run is a composite contingent made up of greedy and hungry fellows, rented fellows, political flunkeys of the basest type and those who think that Nigeria may be ready for any kind of political tomfoolery at this time.

*Jonathan 

Ordinarily, a man who had risen from the position of a Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President to the apex of his country’s administration, the presidency, ought to be happy that he had done, without being harmed, a marathon that most Nigerians only dream about.

In that case, he would be expected to play only the role of a statesman who would seek to contribute his ideas to the resolution of his country’s and continent’s existential problems, some of which had haunted his country since the days that he grew up in his village without the adornment of even the cheapest pair of shoes. Now he is in a position to acquire the most expensive pair of designer shoes ever made.

Buhari’s Parting Gift To Nigerians

 By Charles Okoh

Come May 29, 2023, it would have been eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari. It would have been eight trying years or a mixed grill of the good, the bad and the ugly. To say those years have stretched the people to the very limit of their existence which has left many despondent, disillusioned, crestfallen and in a state of near hopelessness would amount to stating the obvious.

*Buhari

What are the facts? It is a fact that Nigerians have been enduring very harsh and debilitating living conditions as of late. Did the problem begin with the present administration? Certainly not, it is the culmination of many years of poor leadership and a continuous downward slide, but it is also sad to note that rather than fashioning a plan to halt this trend it had become a free fall. The government of President Buhari has only helped in exacerbating the nation’s slide into the abyss.

Just as his actions have not helped matters in any way, his inactions at several occasions when the nation needed him to wield the big stick has further paved the way for a multitude of cataclysms on the ragged nation that is barely held together by a strand.

Nigeria: The Curse Of An Incapable State

 

By Chidi Odinkalu

Nigeria’s response to the onset of murderous mass violence has evolved through phases of co-optation, brutal reprisal, appeasement, and state incapacity. The two options that have never quite been attempted with conviction are effective accountability and civic inclusion. Through phases of anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism and, now, interminable and metastasizing counter-insurgencies, the country has found itself mired in chronic mass violence as the only language of political dialogue. With many reluctant to acknowledge how the country quite ended up in this denouement, it is important to look back briefly in order to look forward.

Outlawry in post-colonial Nigeria has a long and tawdry history. Stephen Ellis, who spent a lifetime researching and analysing this in some detail, recounted in his final book, This Present Darkness: A History of Organised Crime in Nigeria, when the spike started: “Shortly before the civil war, when government broke down in some parts of the Western Region and there was a blurred line between political violence, crime, and organised insurgency.” Many would argue that Nigeria has been one long insurgency since then in what has been – on close inspection – a long war against the logical consequences of chronic leadership failure.

2023 Presidency: Jonathan Not Qualified To Contest – Falana

 

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, said yesterday (Wednesday, 27 April 2022) that former President Goodluck Jonathan was barred by the Nigerian Constitution from contesting the 2023 Presidential Election.

There have been media reports suggesting that Jonathan was seriously considering decamping from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to become the presidential flag bearer of the ruling party in 2023.

Buhari And APC Are Corrupting Democracy!

 By Mike Ozekhome

The staggering sum of N100 million fixed by the APC NEC for its presidential nomination form has rightly sent shock waves of righteous indignation across the country.

The APC had fixed N30 million for the “expression of interest form” and N70 million for the “nomination form”, making a total of N100 million. The party hopes to rake in N1.5 billion from the 15 aspirants that have so far declared interest in the presidential race. By this singular act, the APC has shown a shocking insatiable bacchanalian propensity to corrupt democracy, and democratic ethos, and also scam the entire country.

*Buhari, APC Chairman Adamu and other party leaders

The vulgarity of this exercise lies not just in the abominable fee prescribed, but more in the party’s pretentious mantra of fighting corruption, using a well-orchestrated and carefully oiled Hitler’s Goebel’s propagandist machinery of dubious pedigree. It is the more abhorrent when we realize that this is miles apart from (indeed more than double) the price fixed by the party’s whipping child, the opposition PDP, which has fixed it at N40million (N5 million) for the nomination of interest; and N35 million for the nomination form. The N100m is also over 100% of the N40 million fixed by the same APC for 2018, presidential nomination form.

2023: Last Chance To Save Nigeria!

 By Luke Onyekakeyah

Looking at the way things are going on in the run up to the 2023 general elections, it is obvious that politicians have learnt no lesson from the mistakes of the past and the abhorable state of affairs in Nigeria. All the fears and apprehension about a possible collapse of a ruined country do not resonate among the rich ruling class. Can 2023 bring remedy?

There is nothing in the horizon to show that these people are bothered about Nigeria or interested in redeeming it. Politicians need to be reminded that they have to save this country now or else lose it. Consequently, given the awful state of affairs, the 2023 may be the last chance to save Nigeria from imminent collapse and disintegration.

Otherwise, as it were, we are back to square one. The cat and mouse race has reopened. The witch that cries and children start dying is at it again. It is as if to say the end of Nigeria is at hand, as all the political gladiators appear to be hell bent on capturing the presidency.

Nigeria: Cattle Breeders, Human Butchers And Terrorists

 By Tola Adeniyi

When will this mindless bloodletting stop? When will the mindless expansionist dreamers end their foolish dreams? When will the curse of the Berlin Conference of 1884/85 leave Africans to live their lives? When will the negligible minority who has cornered power and position realize the emptiness of this transient life and allow fellow human beings to spend their brief days on planet Earth in peace? When will mankind submit itself to reasoning and reasonableness?

The recurrent disturbing news broke again that the innocent farmers struggling to get mere subsistent living were hacked down, as usual, in Benue State. And the perennial culprits, the notorious human butchers were alleged to be those who had sworn that human lives are inferior to cows’ lives and people must choose between surrendering their ancestral lands to either to cows or brutish death. 

When will this end? When? When will the programmed pogrom going on now in Southern Kaduna stop? When will the mindless ethnic cleansing stop? The unprovoked genocide et al???

We must begin to make the distinction between Cattle Breeders, Human Butchers and Terrorists if we are ever going to be able to get to the bottom of these recurring horrendous killings in our land. And we must once and for all debunk the ruse that all the killings, arsons, butchering and kidnapping-for-ransom have anything to do with religion.

Osinachi's Death — What A Wife Should Do If Her Husband Is A Wife Beater!

 By Pastor Chris Ojigbani

Recently, a Sister Osinachi Nwachukwu died. She was one of the most profound gospel singers in the world today. The lady that sang Ekwueme. People cry when she sings. Her voice makes people cry. When you listen to her, you go to the throne of God. You go to the throne of heaven immediately.

*Osinachi

She sings naturally. She died because of alleged domestic violence. It was alleged that her husband beat her to death. It's so painful because she's one of the gospel singers whose voice I love. I love her voice so much.

If you listen to her, you will know that she truly worships the Lord. She worships God from her heart. She instantly takes you to the throne of heaven without wasting time. But look at the manner she died— after severe beating from her husband. The person that is supposed to love her more than any other person in the world.

Achebe’s ‘Arrow of God’ Chosen By The BBC For ‘The Big Jubilee Read’

The Big Jubilee Read is a reading for pleasure campaign spearheaded by BBC Arts and The Reading Agency that celebrates great reads from across the Commonwealth, to coincide with Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Pastor Tunde Bakare And The Lies Of A Failed State

 By Chuks Iloegbunam 

Pastor Tunde Bakare of The Citadel Global Community Church recently spoke through his hat while preaching a sermon. He told his congregation that, during the January 15, 1966 military action that toppled the First Republic, the soldiers that took Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa removed his turban, poured wine on his head and force-fed him with the alcohol. For abominating him, Balewa, just before he was shot, pronounced a curse on Ndigbo, to the effect that no one from the ethnic group will ever bear rule over Nigeria. Mr. Bakare’s story, fanciful as it sounds, is a pack of lies. This article, therefore, is to educate Mr. Bakare and others of his misguided persuasion with the truth, of which Jesus, the Christ said in John 8: 32: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” 

*Awolowo, Azikiwe, Balewa

 

On the mundane level, no one removed any turban from Sir Abubakar’s head. The turban is a headdress. Soldiers invaded the Prime Minister’s official residence at around 3am, when the man was in bed. Did he sleep turbaned? Do people sleep in their headdresses? Apart from that picture in which presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari appeared in suit and tie, wearing a wan smile and looking almost comical with his receding hairline, there hardly is another photograph of the man in which a cap does not adorn his head. Would his traditional fondness for full dressing gear ever mean that he went to bed in a hat? Do women sleep with all those accessories they routinely assembled on their heads for public events? Tafawa Balewa’s turban was not removed because he wasn’t wearing one when his adversaries closed in on him.

Is Nigeria Now A Killing Field? — GPAAN

 Press Release

The Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria received, with horror and utter disgust, the gory news of the invasion of a train of Nigeria Railway Corporation on its way from Abuja to Kaduna by a horde from hell on 28th March 2022.

We have waited this long to make a statement because we had hoped that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the heads of the security agencies would have resolved the problem so we could have a positive statement to make. But alas!

Terrorists rigged explosives on the rail track, to cause the train to hobble to an unscheduled stop in a most unlikely place in the bush. As soon as the trip was disrupted the killers boarded the disabled coaches, shooting sporadically.

Kaduna Killings And A Silenced Nation

 By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths’’     – Isaiah 59:17

The recent heartless, blood-letting attacks of terrorists on the Abuja-Kaduna rail line and train, twice within 72 hours, in addition to the Kaduna airport have brought to mind my opinion essay titled: ‘Southern Kaduna Killings and Our Fragile Unity’. It was published by several newspapers on January 15, 2017. The aim then was to draw the needed attention of the powers that be, that more was being said than done in reining in the rampaging monster of killer herdsmen on innocent citizens. That was precisely so in several Sothern Kaduna villages such as Gad Biyu,  Agwan Ajo as well as  Zango Kataf, Jema’a and Kaura local councils, as perpetrated and escalated from August of the previous year, 2016.

Bola Ige: Perhaps, Closed Files Should Remain Just That — Closed?

 By Wole Soyinka 

Barely three months have passed since the twentieth anniversary of the murder of the late Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, an occasion that I utilized to remind President Mohammed Buhari, of a subsisting election pledge.  That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations. 

*Soyinka 

Presidential response was swift . Buhari ordered  the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations.  The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of Work in Progress. Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment.  We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive.  Eventually. 

Nigerian Women Can Lead!

 By Dakuku Peterside

In the year 2008, I co-edited a book with the title, African Women Can Lead,  published by  Kachifo  Publishers  under its prestige imprint. The book was a collection of essays and presentations made for three editions of the Development and Leadership  Institute, DLI, Women in Politics and leadership programme.

*Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

We chose the book’s title after a rigorous debate by the advisory board of   the programme. The thrust of the debate then was that more African women should be given a chance to lead as it will help address the prevalent inequality and empower women to contribute more to advancing society. Recent events where many Nigerian women are playing critical leadership roles globally on merit have made the book’s title a prophetic choice.

Sponsors Of Terrorism Should Be Tried Now

 By Femi Falana

Sometime in August 2019, a gang of 10 soldiers led by an Army Captain ambushed and killed the  three police officers who had arrested an alleged kidnap suspect, Bala Hamisu (a.k.a.Wadume) in Jalingo, Taraba State. 

The cold murder of the police officers was designed to cover up the involvement of the soldiers in the several killings and illegal collection of hundreds of millions of Naira as ransom by the kidnappers who had terrorised the people of Taraba State for about three years.

*Falana

The suspected killer soldiers were charged with terrorism in the Federal High Court by the Nigeria Police Force. But in  a complete abuse of his powers under section 174 of the Constitution,  the Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN filed a nolle prosequi and withdrew the charges pending against the soldiers at the Federal High Court. 

They have since been shielded from prosecution without any legal or moral justification. Our demand for the arrest and prosecution of the suspects has been ignored by the Federal Government.

Pastor Adeboye On Make-Up, Jewelry, Wigs And Bleached Hair

 

*Pastor Adeboye 

The elders have a say, "if children of the same mother enter into a room to talk and come out smiling, they have not told each other the truth." 

Alright, so in the next three minutes, you might not be smiling as I am going to tell you the truth, because am your daddy. Strictly speaking I have searched the scripture, there is nowhere that I have found where it is written, if you wear make-up, you will go to hell or you will not make it to heaven, I can’t find it in the Bible. It is not to be found anywhere at all, but I have done my own research. 

There are, however, two places in the whole Bible where references were made to painting of face; only two places, and the two places are bad. One of the places talked about Jezebel. How many of you will name your daughter Jezebel? As recorded in 2 Kings 9:30, the day Jezebel was going to die, she did make up properly, painted her face, decked her face with jewelries, but at the end of the day, dogs ate her! 

The second place is in Jeremiah 4:29-30 where God was speaking in anger to daughters of Zion, He says: "when I make up my mind to deal with you, you can paint your face as you like, it is not going to deliver you."

Read it in your Bible. Those are the only two places I found, and they are terrible references.