Nigeria’s Dysfunctional Banks

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

On a Thursday I went to one of the branches of a Bank to carry out a transaction on one of the accounts of our law firm. This particular account was opened about 17 years. And since the opening of the account, our law firm has been successfully operating without any hitches or hiccups. 

But this day after presenting my cheque at the counter, I was informed that “Sir, this account needs reactivation.” “Why the reactivation?” I queried. “Because it has been rendered dormant. It is no longer active,” the lady responded. What will I do to reactivate it? She pulled out a sheet of paper containing some bank requirements and said: “Sir, these are the requirements for reopening the account. 

Muslim-Muslim Ticket: Christianity Would Suffer At Nigeria’s Seat Of Sovereignty

 By Olu Fasan

Every well-meaning Nigerian must remain outraged by the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC. Every patriotic Nigerian should be appalled by the utter insensitivity and perniciousness of the calculated decision that belittles Christianity and puts religious harmony and internal cohesion at greater risk in Nigeria. Of course, the issue won’t go away; we will discuss it until next year’s elections. My focus here is the symbolism of the choice.

Self-servingly, some have mischaracterised the opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Recently, Festus Keyamo, a minister of state for labour and employment and spokesman of the Tinubu presidential campaign, said it was about “balance of power”. 

According to him, Christians feared losing power at the centre if Tinubu became president with Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his vice-president. He said this was misguided because the vice-president “is powerless”.

As Obi’s Candidacy Redefines Nigeria’s Presidential Democracy

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

AS you read this, and barring any last minute rescheduling, it will be exactly 177 days to the 2023 presidential election scheduled to hold on February 25. Many Nigerians are enthusiastic, thrilled and motivated. Some are even exultant. This election cycle will be the seventh since 1999. Yet, none of the previous six elections elicited as much enthusiasm. In fact, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, figures, the turnout of voters had been on the decline.

*Obi

For instance, 74 million Nigerians registered for the 2011 elections and 39 million (53.68 per cent) voted to elect Dr. Goodluck Jonathan president. In 2015, both the number of registered voters and the percentage that voted dipped. Whereas 67.42 million registered to vote, only 29.43 million votes were cast, representing 43.65 per cent voter turnout. 

Four years later, there was an 8.9 percentage decline. Of the 84 million who registered to vote in 2019, only 28.61 million (34.75 per cent) bothered to show up on Election Day. 

Why ASUU Cannot Be Banned

 By Femi Falana

Under the British colonial regime, trade unions were prohibited while strikes were criminalised. But Nigerian workers defied the ban and formed trade unions to challenge the crude exploration of the nation’s resources by the foreign colonisers. When the British saw the futility of the proscription the Trade Union Ordinance of 1939 was promulgated. The law allowed the formation of trade unions but outlawed strikes. Notwithstanding the anti strike provision of the law the general strike of 1945 led by the Nigerian Railway Union under the leadership of Comrade Michael Imoudu paralysed the colonial economy for days.

*Falana 

From that moment, workers resolved to be in the front line in the decolonisation struggle. Hence, the British resorted to brutal attacks of workers. For example, the Enugu coal miners were brutally attacked by the colonial police for embarking on strike for improved conditions of service in November 1949. The murderous attack led to the death of 21 colliery workers while several others were injured. The strike provoked a nationwide condemnation, which exposed the atrocious activities of the British colonial regime.

Nigeria: The Unreported Impact Of The Lingering ASUU Strike

 By Rasheedat Shuaib 

Nothing can be more shocking than learning that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has embarked on not less than 16 industrial actions between 1999 and 2022.

For those who may not know, a major factor prompting our university lecturers to be laying down their tools intermittently is the failure of government to fulfill an agreement it once entered with the academic union.

*Buhari receiving an honorary doctorate degree from the Kaduna State University 

Another factor is the failure of the lecturers to reinvent themselves and face current realities, and find fresh ways of resolving their incessant disputes with the government.

Each time the ASUU strike rears its ugly head, one is forced to conclude that both the government and our lecturers lack empathy for us the students. Better put: they don’t have our interest at heart.

The recurrence of ASUU strike has numerous negative impacts on us, something the government and ASUU don’t consider when they fail to come to an agreement. We lost a whole session to this same madness two years ago. The same thing is already happening now, with the ongoing strike.

Banditry, Kidnapping As Lucrative Business In Nigeria

 By Agunloye Bashiru

The failure and nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the incidents of kidnapping for ransom has made Nigerian families to resort to self-help to free their loved ones from the dens of kidnappers and bandits. 

*Kidnappers and their victims 

From 2021 to date, over 500 incidents of kidnappings were said to have been recorded with close to 4,000 Nigerians and some foreign citizens abducted across Nigeria, while some unreported cases were unknown due to the nature of Nigeria when it comes to proper data documentation.

While all these incidents of kidnappings and abductions were happening across the country, the Nigerian government left the victims in the hands of these unrepentant and inhuman gangs. 

From July 2021 to August 2022, over one billion Naira was reported to have been paid by Nigerians to freed victims of kidnappings and abductions. In July 2021, the sum of N250 million was paid by Nigeria Baptist Convention as ransom to the bandits that kidnapped 140 students from the Bethel Baptist College, Damishi, Kaduna State. In July 2022 alone, eight Nigerian abducted persons parted with N800 million while a kidnapped Pakistani national paid the sum of N200 million as ransom to kidnappers. 

Is It The End Of Nigeria’s Aviation Sector?

 By Dele Sobowale

 “All things do help an unhappy man to fall.” 

— William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, Vanguard Book of Quotations, VBQ, P.257

Regular readers of this page know that I am one of the few Nigerians still passionate about Nigeria Air – the national airline. For me, it is simply an acid test of our ability as a nation to manage any complex enterprise. The success of Ethiopian Airlines should be sufficient for us to try once again. The lure of foreign exchange revenue should constitute an extra dividend. But, as time is running out on the Buhari administration, what was an uphill task is now becoming a mission impossible.

Worst Disaster

“Aviation crisis: We’re currently engaging CBN, others on blocked $600m funds – Lai Mohammed. Report, August 23, 2022.

Two things I learnt from personal experience, at the university and former jobs are pertinent here. To persuade  foreign airlines threatening to leave Nigeria, we need credible communications. From a course on communications in Business School, it was drummed into my head that the messenger is as important as the message. The message itself must be credible. When the messenger and the message lack credibility, the crisis is made worse.

With $600m funds belonging to foreign airlines, the worst government spokesman to address the issue is Lai Mohammed. One of my friends in an embassy was the first to let me know that they monitor activities on our social media platforms 24/7. They are aware that Lai Mohammed lacks credibility among Nigerians. He is also not well regarded in diplomatic circles. The announcement by Lai Mohammed, contrary to what the Federal Government expects, will most probably be dismissed as false by all airlines affected. In fact, it would have been better to say nothing than to send a messenger regarded as untruthful.

Abuja’s Priorities Are Beyond ASUU’s Demands

 By Rotimi Fasan

The Federal Government through the Central Bank last week released $265 million to airline companies operating in the country. These are mostly businesses owned by foreigners. The aviation industry like most other sectors of the economy has been going through a very rough patch in the last few months. There had been a lot of hue and cry about the scarcity of aviation fuel which mostly affected local airlines.

*ASUU Leaders and the Federal Government Team 

But the scarcity of foreign exchange has translated into bad business for the major airline companies that have not been able to repatriate profits that are trapped in naira in local banks. After weeks of lamentation without any improvement in their situation, a number of them, including British Airways and Emirates, had taken the hard decision to halt their operations in the country beginning from the end of August 2022. 

The decision of these airline companies, should it come into effect, would amount to a virtual lockdown of the international routes of the Nigerian aviation sector. For a country that lacks a national carrier, this would be disastrous. As footloose as Nigerians, especially the elite, tend to be, it is both ironic and scandalous that they rely almost exclusively on foreigners for their international junketing. Yet our airports display some of the most exotic private jets, not one of them can be repaired or maintained locally, that are left idle while incurring avoidable debts on airport tarmacs and hangers. 

Learning About Ndi Igbo

 By Patrick Dele Cole

(Book by Agunze Chib Ikokwu Foundation)

One thing is clear about the Igbos, by whatever standards there are, they are a remarkable people, strong in will, great in achievement, and undeterred by difficulties.

What is it that has produced these remarkable people? What keeps them going? How do people enhance their self-awareness even amidst open hostility, jealousy and outright discrimination? It would seem as if the harder the other people in Nigeria beat them, and discriminate against them, the more successful they become.

This book gives a peep into the complexity of what makes the Igbo character. It starts from a very simple assumption, that education is a key component of development. Education fosters tolerance, but it may also foster bigotry, and when you take people eager to be educated, eager to change their positions in life, eager to find the world, to leave the world a better place than they found it, that inspires.

Buhari Unwinnable Anti-Media War

 By Emmanuel Onwubiko

''Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter''   --Thomas Jefferson. 

''Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost''

 --Thomas Jefferson.

*Buhari 

The history of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration won’t certainly be complete without a detailed mention of his contrived but well sustained war against media freedoms. The cantankerous relationship between the Present federal administration in Nigeria with the media is a direct reflection of the kind of opaque government that is in place which substantially is devoid of transparency, accountability and integrity.

But this situation is diametrically opposed to what should be expected from a nation that has consistently practiced constitutional democracy for well over twenty years at a stretch after about four decades of military subjugation of the democratic forces under the whims and caprices of the barrels of the guns.

How The Rich Deny The Poor Power To Develop

 By Bjorn Lomborg

The rich world’s fossil fuel hypocrisy is on full display in its response to the global energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the wealthy G7 countries admonish the world’s poor to use only renewables because of climate concerns, Europe and the United States are going begging for Arab nations to expand oil production. Germany is reopening coal power plants, while Spain and Italy are ramping up African gas production. So many European countries have asked Botswana to mine more coal that the country will have to triple its exports.

A single person in the rich world uses more fossil fuel energy than all the energy available to 23 poor Africans. The rich world became wealthy by massively exploiting fossil fuels, which today provide more than three-quarters of its energy. Solar and wind deliver less than three per cent of the rich world’s energy.

Yet, the rich are choking off funding for any new fossil fuels in the developing world. Most of the world’s poorest four billion people have no meaningful energy access, so the rich blithely tell them to ‘leapfrog’ from no energy to a green nirvana of solar panels and wind turbines.

On This ASUU Matter

 By Obi Nwakanma

I was at the University of Nigeria in February to give the keynote to a conference jointly organized by Nsukka’s Institute of African Studies and the Harris Center of the University of Chicago. I remember the gaunt listlessness of the campus, because I arrived there the very day the ASUU strike began. But there was something else beneath the palimpsest of dust that covered the campus of Nsukka. It was decay that felt like a settled crust on the campus of Nigeria’s premier university. 

*ASUU leaders in a meeting 

I felt an out of body experience because I am a product of the Nigerian universities of the 1980s. The University of Jos of the 1980s, for instance, still had its Country-Club atmosphere in those years. It was what you might call a “party school.” But serious business went on there. The students were competitively selected for admissions; it was a very diverse group of students, including the presence of international students. Its faculty was equally diverse and international. Conduct and activities on campus was still cultured and mannered. University faculty still had their dignity, and carried themselves with dignified purpose.

Babangida And Recent Nigerian History

 By Dan Amor

To live on this sinful earth for 80 years (whether it is original or official age) is no mean achievement, especially in these terrible times when conditions have sapped real life out of comparative existence leaving the average lifespan of a Nigerian at just 55. 

*Babangida

But here is General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (retd.) celebrating 80 years with pomp and pageantry in the midst of family members, friends, associates, former colleagues and country men and women. Since Tuesday August 17, his date of birth, Nigerians from all walks of life have paid tributes to this former military President, from varied perspectives. 

As Fashola Delivers ‘TheNiche’ Lecture

When the newspaper came on board in April 2014, the editorial policy captured its mission: “TheNiche will always anchor its position on the need for social justice, fairness and respect for human and communal rights … will be uncompromising against any form of discrimination and subjugation either by tribe, gender or religion.”

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

On Thursday, September 8, 2022, former Lagos State Governor and Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, will deliver the 2022 edition of TheNiche Annual Lecture at the MUSON Centre, Onikan Lagos.

Getting the minister to deliver the lecture is by no means a walk in the park. We didn’t expect it would be considering the fact that as a hands-on minister traversing the length and breadth of the country, ensuring that projects under the purview of his ministry are delivered timeously, time will always be a challenge.

But the theme of the lecture – 2023 Elections And The Future Of Nigeria’s Democracy – did the magic. Fashola is not only cerebral, he is an unrepentant democrat, always seeking ways of deepening Nigeria’s democracy, which is still fledgling at 23. The lecture provides him an opportunity to live his passion.

Nigeria: Issues In The Campaigns

 By Obi Nwakanma

The election season geared towards electing a new president for Nigeria is now upon us. In about two weeks, according to the rules of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), the official bar on campaigns will be lifted, the whistle will then blow for the parties now currently on their marks, to take off. This campaign season is more a mile race than a dash. For those who do long distance races, they understand that they must pace themselves: know when to conserve energy, keep an even pace and stay in the race, do not lag, pick up speed towards the final laps, and end with a blinding finish.

No one runs the Mile race as though they were doing the 100 Meters dash. Sprinters, especially very experienced ones, learn very quickly, the strength of their opponents, their speech, and most importantly, how to bank against the direction of the wind, or sail with it.

The coming political campaigns remind me of Stanley Ngwaba, that elegant stallion on the tracks, do the 400 meters race on the “Lower Fields,” at the Government College Umuahia, to win the Victor Ludorum during the Inter House Sports Competition.

Corruption And Nigerian History

 By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

There is talk here and there of bringing back History with a capital “H” in the Nigerian school curriculum. It is cool by me to do a short history course with the ruling party, APC, and President Muhammadu Buhari. Necessary lessons need to be learnt before the elections that will lead into the next dispensation of Nigeria’s much touted democracy.

To start back in time, Nigeria’s first coup as arranged by Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Adewale Ademoyega etc. did raise the issue of corruption as a major prong of why they struck to sack the First Republic. The entire coup attempt got mired in the corruption of ethnic politics until there was the bloodier counter-coup in which they revenge squad wanted secession, code-named “araba”, until the British colonial masters advised against herding into arid nothingness. 

Is The Judiciary Beyond Redemption?

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

To affirm that the judiciary is corrupt is an understatement. The judiciary is not just corrupt; the men and women entrusted with the affairs of the judiciary are suffering from a huge character deficit. It is painful that our judiciary has been constituted into an object of derision by the very people who should labour to maintain its prestige.

The level of official corruption and moral degeneracy at both the Bar and the Bench is alarming. It seems as if the judiciary is beyond redemption. 

While the Bench sickens for lack of moral renaissance, the Bar fairs no better. Regrettably, many members of the Bar lack the lowest common denominator of acceptable character. 

As regards the judiciary workers often loosely referred to as the judicial personnel-court bailiffs, Chief Registrars, Assistant Chief Registrars (ACR), court clerks, court messengers, court cashiers, court stenographers and so forth- their lives are ruled and governed by the civil service bureaucratic extortion.  

Nigeria: When Stinginess Becomes A Virtue

 By Hudson Ororho

In  our first year in secondary school at St. Peter Claver College, Aghalokpe, Delta State, we read a book, under the watchful eyes of our Priest/Principal, Rev. Fr. Jeremiah Cadogan, SMA, titled: Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If my recollection has not failed me, the book has two principal characters:  Scrooge and Manley. They were business partners.

*Obi

In the story, not much was said about Manley save that he was a good man. Scrooge, on the other hand was described as a mean and miserly fellow. He would give shishi to no one. He does not even respond to the Merry Christmas greetings from the locals, describing same as sheer humbug. He was even stingy to himself as he would not enjoy the traditional Christmas turkey. The locals despised him. In retrospect, I wonder if he ever wore a St. Michaels label or a Marks and Spencer shoes.

2023 Elections And Future Of Nigeria’s Democracy

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

The 2023 elections will be consequential. Though six months away and campaigns yet to be officially flagged off, politicians are already crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country, shadowboxing their way through all manner of policy disputes. They are making a show of tackling the myriad problems the post-Buhari era will present, while avoiding any direct engagement with opponents.

The elections will be consequential because Nigeria is at a crossroads, haunted by demons many thought had been long exorcised. Seven years of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency has brought out the worst in Nigerians. Ironically, while this self-inflicted leadership crisis and the uprising it has engendered is bringing out the beast in us, as the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, noted in his epic song, “Beast of No Nation”, it has also re-ignited the hitherto dimming Nigeria’s democracy candle light.

Why ASUU Strike Is For Benefit Of The Poor, Needy

 By Jeff Doki

For many years, the ideological nature of political struggle in Nigeria has been systematically suppressed by the press. When Nigeria politics is written about, it is in misleadingly crude terms of power struggles between political parties—usually the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party and (very recently) the Labour Party. Or sometimes, the reportage is about individual personalities—Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi—or the economic problems (hunger, poverty, disease, joblessness, soaring energy prices and lack of access to quality education, among others) supposedly caused by poor leadership.

As a matter of fact, such strands of politics, reported by the Nigerian media, are mere subplots in the battle between a backwards-looking regime, erected on the structures of shameful revisionism,  corruption, denial of truth and unpatriotic divisiveness on the one hand, and the nationalists and intellectual workers headed by Academic Staff Union of Universities on the other. It is important to state from the outset that this latter group (led by ASUU) is acting as a check on the increasing gross inequality between the bourgeoisie and the 90% of the Nigerian population who are peasants and urban workers.