New ‘Currency’, New Census: Buhari’s Desperate Quest For A Legacy

 By Olu Fasan

For most of his seven-and-a-half years in office to date, President Muhammadu Buhari ran Nigeria with such insouciance that suggested he didn’t care about a legacy. However, as the inevitability of leaving office on May 29 next year hits home, Buhari has shown a minute-to-midnight desperation for “legacy projects.”

Two such “projects” are “redesigning” the naira notes and conducting a population census. But by politicising such issues, he undermines them. To start with, my view is that President Buhari has, so far, no legacy that can endure through time. Economists use the term “value for money” to refer to something that is well worth the money spent on it.

Nigeria: Poverty Wins, Buhari Loses

 By Dan Agbese

Some political promises are difficult to keep. The nature of politics induces political leaders to make promises they know they can only keep with soundbites and indifferent public applause. 

*Buhari 

You are not about to hear it from me that President Muhammadu Buhari has clearly failed in one of his core promises dear to the people: wrestling down poverty. He promised to take 100 million people out of poverty in ten years. To show that he meant business, sometime last year he appointed some experts to help him work out a formula for keeping his promise to the people. He does not have ten years, of course, but he has enough time to devise a mechanism or a formula that could be working in his name long after he leaves Aso Rock.

Tinubu Candidacy And Chatham House Charade

 By Emeka Alex Duru

You would notice that the speech delivered by the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at Chatham House, London, earlier in the week, has been drowned by criticisms trailing his outsourcing the question-and-answer section to his cronies. That is not without reasons. It falls into our position here, some time ago, on the need for the flag bearers to assume their offices and speak directly to Nigerians on their agenda for the nation and how they intend to go about them.

*Tinubu

Our observation then was that the presidential candidates carry on their shoulders the burden of marketing themselves and their political organisations. In other words, they are the faces of their parties, their poster boys. That is why being the standard-bearer of a political party, is a big deal – a contest for serious minds. It demands a lot. To paraphrase Gerald R. Ford (38th U.S. President) the presidency is not a prize to be won, but a duty to be done.

Poor Governance Should Stop

 By Terry  Adeniji

The government at all levels in the country is collapsing, the non-state actors have hijacked the reign of government from the people in power, especially the regulatory bodies in charge of our critical sectors, and the poor citizens are made to bear the brunt of their non-performance.

In the area of security, the Department of State Services, the police, and other security agents are helpless as the terrorists and bandits continue to terrorise people, killing, maiming and collecting ransom in millions of naira paid in cash and yet, the same huge money finds its way back to the bank and all these security agents can’t track it. Something is clearly wrong with our system, and yet nobody is resigning.

Bola Tinubu’s ‘Teamship’ Doctrine Is A Scam!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

“Let me demonstrate here one of those philosophies, doctrines that I believe firmly in – teamship – unbreakable team. To demonstrate that, I will choose the first question and assign to Dele Alake and the second question assign to Nasir el-Rufai and the third question assign to Ben Ayade.”

*Tinubu 

Those were the words of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the 2023 elections, at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London known as Chatham House on Monday, December 5. In the spirit of Tinubu’s teamship, questions posed to him directly following a paper he presented at the think-tank were farmed out by fiat to surrogates.

Reactions, expectedly, were fast and furious. While well-meaning Nigerians termed, correctly, his “teamship” doctrine an abdication, the APC spin doctors went on overdrive. Alake, former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Director of Strategic Communications of the APC presidential campaign council, said delegating questions to team members is one of Tinubu’s innovations.

COVID-19 Burden Lessens In Africa, Vigilance Crucial As Year-End Season Begins

 Brazzaville, 8 December 2022 

While Africa is witnessing its lowest level of new COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic, a recent four-week rise—the first such sustained increase in four months—underscores the criticality of maintaining vigilance as the end-year holiday seasons sets in.

The continent recorded a four-week long rise until 20 November, but the number of new cases dropped slightly in the past two weeks ending on 2 December breaking the upward trend. However, the new cases reported in late November account for less than 10% of cases recorded in the same period in 2021 and 2020. While deaths rose by 14% in the week ending on 27 November from the week before, they were low at 53—approximately 4% of the deaths recorded in the same period in 2021 and 2020. The current COVID-19 caseload is not exerting any significant strain on health facilities, with hospitalizations remaining low.

Nigeria: Still On The Same Faith Ticket

 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. 

*Tinubu and Shettima 

Self-servingly, some have mischaracterised the opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Recently, Festus Keyamo, the 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”. 

Richland Property And Homes: Special Offers!

 

On Bola Tinubu's Chatham House Visit

 By Wole Olubanji

I find it funny that political leaders in Nigeria are more inclined to speak to foreign entities about their country than they are with their people. I am not saying there is anything wrong with openness to cross-national ideas, but there is a problem with suggesting the unworthiness of the press or people of one's country. 

It became a tradition with Buhari that some of us started awaiting the next presidential trip abroad to know the take of the President on policies and national issues. Is it the case that these people think us unworthy of their perspectives on the job they were hired by us to do? 

Aisha Buhari: From Wife Of The President To First Lady

 By Rotimi Fasan

I can’t be sure now how Aisha Buhari prefers to be identified. Is it as the First Lady or as the President’s wife? At present, she’s more often identified as the First Lady than as the wife of the president, which was the Muhammadu Buhari presidency’s own way of distancing itself from the abuse and overbearing tendencies of previous occupants of the “office” of First Lady.

*Aisha Buhari 

But things seem to have unravelled, and the hairsplitting is being or has been exposed for what it is – a mere academic exercise. With no constitutional provision, many Nigerians have in the past questioned the manner in which some so-called first ladies had gone about their duty, which was often characterised by misuse of public funds and resources. 

Weep Not for Tinubu, But Nigeria

 By Dele Momodu

Call it what you will, what happened at Chatham House London yesterday was a complete charade… The Bola Tinubu handlers fumbled, and bungled it big time… They showcased him like a packaged invalid. It would have been better to present him as a brilliant politician and administrator, warts and all, who’s capable of independent thoughts. No man is perfect. His gaffes would have been more pardonable and acceptable… He was expected to sell his own vision and mission…

Tinubu speaks at Chatham House, London

But what we saw yesterday was a theatre of the absurd. It brought back memories of our great President Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and how he mysteriously disappeared from radar and some of his aides governed by proxy. I was one of those who led the Enough-is-Enough protest against the Yar’Adua cabal in Abuja in 2010. What was unacceptable then is even more unacceptable now with benefits of hindsight. Our country should be placed above friendship. 

Obi, Atedo And Leadership Notes

 By Valentine Obienyem 

You need not lead a corporation or country for your capacity to lead to become manifest. A leader is always a leader even when he is leading his primary school mates. This is the lesson I learnt during our one-day recent trip to an African country. We travelled to one of my favorite destinations and returned the following day. 

*Obi
Mr. Peter Obi had notified me about the trip after which I saw myself included on a WhatsApp group for the  journey. Do we need the roll call? Not at all, because it has nothing to do with politics. What struck me was the fact that like Mr. Peter Obi does, Mr. Atedo Peterside, as common a name in the Nigerian financial world  as Obi has become in politics, was personally directing affairs. He was posting most of the time; telling us what to do. He would always emphasize the importance of communication through deeds: he communicated each step he took and encouraged us to do  the same.

Nigeria's Democratically-Elected Tyrants

 By Andy Ezeani

The exit of the military from political administration of Nigeria in 1999 and the attendant restoration of democratic order was expected to engender the ethos of civil contention of ideas and liberal disposition in the political space. These, after all, are the hallmark of democracy, the antithesis of the command structure of the military that had gone.

Considering that military rule prevailed for a very long time in the country, it was not unexpected that some mannerisms of the defunct regime will linger after them. But for how long? This is the question that has become relevant and increasingly worrisome, against the backdrop of disturbing undemocratic tendencies that seem determined not to go away, years after the military left the scene.

Nigeria: A Season Of Political Malapropisms

 By Chidi Odinkalu

Politics in Nigeria is largely of the transhumant variety. It is not defined by any big ideas. With the exception of perhaps the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian politicians have been largely devoid of clear ideological moorings.

Freed as such from the forces of ideological gravity, the only impetus that they respond to for the most part is from the stomach. Gravity in Nigerian politics tends to be a force defined by the imperative of human grazing.

An opposition may be essential for democracy to thrive but no Nigerian politician or party wants to linger in that neighbourhood. In power for 16 years at the centre, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been an abject failure since it went into opposition in 2015, unable to articulate any alternatives to the unmitigated disaster that has been the government of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Both parties are separated by a revolving door.

Nigeria’s Perennial Flooding: Estate Surveyor/Valuer Perspective

 By Toyin Aluko

One of the most prevalent natural disasters in Nigeria is perennial flooding. In recent years, incidents of flooding have been devastating. Some states have been increasingly experiencing flooding, particularly during the rainy season with the attending challenges to food production, food security and livelihoods. The country no doubt experienced its worst flooding in 2022.

Farmers and investors have suffered huge losses as floods destroyed thousands of hectares of farmlands and food crops. The extent and nature of the disaster is such that the actual losses, displacements and fatalities figures cannot be truly established due to poor records and reporting.

The International Day Of The Girl-Child

 By Feyinwa Chime

International Day of the Girl 2022 has come and gone. Should we simply tick ‘done’ and move on? I say ‘no’. Let’s us continue celebrating and working for the good of our female children. 

This year’s International Day of the Girl was celebrated on Tuesday, 11th October, 2022. Its theme was, “Our time is now – our rights, our future.” 2022 commemorates the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG). 

The girl-child is a biological human female offspring from birth to eighteen years of age. Recently, we have seen a surge of girl-child education debates surrounding the primary, secondary, tertiary and health/safety education in particular for girls and young women. 

Nigeria In A Fix, Let’s Fix It!

 By Emmanuel Onwubiko

Things are truly not looking good all around us in Nigeria and the signals are as bright as the sun with facts showing how tragic things have degenerated to and are piercing through the conscience of Nigerians like the sword of Damocles.

Things have fallen Apart in Nigeria, as prophetically affirmed by the legendary writer, Professor Chinua Achebe, who wrote the iconic novel, Things Fall Apart.

I sat in a corner of a coffee shop somewhere in Garki II, Abuja, and spent over 30 minutes waiting for the waitress to serve my hot cup of Cappuccino coffee, in deep thinking about a lot of things.

Ending Violence Against Women Will Save $1.5tn Annually

 By Patricia Scotland

As we head towards the end of the year, many of us will soon be surrounded by our family and friends sitting around dinner tables as we celebrate the festive season. Looking around the table and reflecting on the fact that, on average, every third woman you see will have experienced sexual or physical abuse at some point in their lives.

*Patricia Scotland

This violence is not a remote act happening in other people’s homes, it lives all around an uninvited guest at the table. It thrives on secrecy, infiltrating homes, communities and workplaces. Yet we are nowhere near an appropriate global response that addresses the scale of this problem. If we are serious about tackling this issue, we cannot continue down the same path, or we will rob ourselves and women around the world of the future and life they deserve.

Poverty: Buhari Should Quit The Blame Game

 By Charles Okoh

These are not the best of times for Nigerians. There are several existential threats confronting the average Nigerian. A man, whose house is on a raging inferno, certainly cannot have any time to spare to chase rats.

*Buhari 

For about two weeks now, Nigerians have been trekking, sweating, thirsty and starving. No thanks to petrol scarcity and the high cost of living. The persistent fuel shortage has continued and people are left running from pillar to post seeking for what God in His infinite mercies deposited in large quantities in our land, yet we have been living in want and scarcity. The paradox is such that a people and nation that have no reason to be poor are wallowing in abject poverty.

Highway To Death!

 By Bianca Ojukwu

On Saturday, November 19, 2022, on my way back from a wedding ceremony late afternoon, I stumbled upon a horrific accident scene at the Ugwu Onyeama Enugu Expressway. A tanker had just collided with a coaster bus carrying passengers who were on their way back from an event.

Mrs. Ojukwu

Mangled bodies covered in blood were strewn everywhere, people had clustered around the scene and the sight was traumatic. I had to make a split second decision whether to move on or to stop. I noticed one of the victims was moving, and requested my drivers to stop.

I alighted from my vehicle with my aides, including those in my back up vehicles and approached the scene. To my shock and dismay, most of the people standing around there, who just parked their own cars by the side of the expressway were simply busy with their cellphones taking pictures and making videos of the gruesome incident.