Towards A Democracy-Sensitive, People-Oriented Judiciary

 By Tunde Olusunle

On Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, 2023, an editorial titled “The judiciary and public criticism” featured on prominent pages of a Nigerian national newspaper. The editorial alluded to public denunciation of certain judgments delivered and actions taken by the nation’s apex court and its leadership. 

Principally cited in the commentary are pronouncements gifting Ahmed Lawan, president of the Senate, and Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, tickets to contest the recent senatorial elections. Such appropriation was done by the Supreme Court, even when both political leaders did not participate in the primaries which would have presaged their emergence. 

Battle For Gender Equity

 By Ray Ekpu

There are two groups that seem to be badly treated in Nigeria’s political space: women and youths. In virtually all the political parties, there are phenomena called “women’s wing” and “youth wing.” There are also “women leaders” and youth leaders.” You may wish to ask why there are no men’s wings and men’s leaders in these parties. 

The answer is that these parties are dominated by men, big men, rich men, ambitious men, men who are ready to fight and possibly kill for what they want in these parties; men who are ready to break a bank and bring money for the running of these parties. And because money talks, and talks loudly, money gives the men all the important offices in the parties.

Nigeria’s Election In The Ides Of March

 By Sola Ebiseni

ON this page last week, asking rhetorically for the whereabouts of Mr. President as the nation boiled during the elections between February 18 and March 18, we bemoaned this curious premonition of the coincidences in times between these occurrences in our land and the tragic happenings in Rome in the Shakespearian Julius Caesar. It is both about the politics and leadership of a nation.

*Ebiseni

We have expressed that those who gave Peter Obi and his structure-less Obidients no chance but swept off their feet in the unprecedented political hurricane that the youths wrought throughout the land in electoral victory for Obi, would rather die than surrender power and its lucre. They would spare nothing, including our cherished legendary culture of civility, to regain and keep power. Losing Lagos was particularly too scary to them.

The Big Tent Odyssey And Saving Democracy In Nigeria

 By Pat Utomi

There are many still in shock about February 25th and March 18 elections. This is understandable. In the week before the 20th of February it appeared the Obidient movement had pulled off a miracle and already made good of the first part of the first promise of the Obi/Datti manifesto: To unite and secure Nigeria.

From Sokoto to Sagbama, Lagos to the lungus of Borno the youth of Nigeria were gyrating to the same beat of the president we need. Were we finally close to the words of our first national anthem, “though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand”.

Ndigbo’s Role In Lagos And Contemporary Nigeria

 By Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

An attempt to delve into what is the place of Ndigbo in Lagos and contemporary Nigeria is vital on account of its currency, especially as the nation has just gone through another electioneering process. The need to know is anchored in the false narrative bandied about in public spaces about the Igbo man planning to take over Lagos. This is utterly amusing. The allegation is specifically borne out of selfish interests and political mischief.

Why is it only during elections that the issue of Igbo domination of cities and takeover comes up? The nation needs to come to terms with and examine the utterances and positions of political, traditional, and opinion leaders in Lagos and Nigeria regarding the Igbo man before and after the elections. 

The Value Of A Good Education

 By Daniel Ighakpe

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul — Joseph Addison, 1711.

Did you ever go to school? Most people can answer yes, but not everyone can. Untold millions of children receive no regular schooling, and this has continued to be the case for a long time, so that today a large number of adults are illiterate. Yet, a good education is a basic need. The Holy Scriptures strongly encourage the acquisition of wisdom.

Rigged Elections And The Moral Burden Of Illegitimacy

 By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

Adamu: A man who rigs his way to power carries a moral burden!
Orezime: A moral what?
Adamu: You heard me, didn’t you?
Orezime: I’m not sure I heard you right. Moral what you said?
Adamu: A moral burden, I said!
Orezime: Hahahahahahaha! You make me laugh! Are you from the moon?
Gani: Or Mars?

Gani: Yes! That’s why those two could only preach; they couldn’t really act decisively. A moral burden? They spoke from both sides of their mouths on the issue of corruption. Late President Yar Adua confessed that the election which produced him was compromised. An honest man, he didn’t live long enough to right the wrong of the period!

Democracy In Africa Needs Help

 By Collins Obibi

It was in a policy development class many years ago that a teacher asked us to listen and understand what he was teaching and how to apply it to our work instead of thinking and focusing on how to develop a Political Theory since even our teachers are not developing any. Being a post graduate class, the statement was not very palatable.

I struggled with it for a long time. Over 25 years, though I have made some contributions to the world of knowledge by my writing and verbal expose on different subjects, I still have not been able to develop any Theory and it appears I have given up.

Igboland And Its Hidden Tributaries To The Atlantic

 By Aloy Ejimakor

It’s often said that a lie told so many times, if unchallenged, may – in the course of time and generations – begin to pass for the truth. One of such is the terrible lie and brazen propaganda, institutionally purveyed (against the Igbo) since the end of the Civil War, to the effect that Igboland is landlocked or has no access to the Atlantic Ocean.

The purpose of this essay, therefore, is to rebut this fat lie with some simple historical, geographical and topographical evidence that are in plain view, if you care to dig into the archives or conduct some basic physical explorations of your own. In the same vein, those that mock the Igbo on this account might as well imbibe the truth and pedal back to reason and reality.

250,000 To Benefit From Free Short-Course TB Preventive Treatment Across Seven Countries

Support from global consortium will expand access to shorter TB prevention options, help advance efforts towards TB elimination

 Johannesburg, 24 March 2023 – The Unitaid-funded IMPAACT4TB Consortium, led by the Aurum Institute, announced today that it will provide 250,000 patient courses of short course rifapentine-based preventive treatment regimens to seven countries to help prevent tuberculosis (TB). The patient courses will include the three-month 3HP regimen, and the even shorter 1HP, that is only taken for 28 days. This contribution is part of the Consortium's ongoing efforts to end TB and improve global health outcomes.

Mobilising Youth For Effective Civic Participation

 By Mayowa Olajide Akinleye

Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 12 of that document establishes that young people must be heard. They must be listened to and taken seriously. It is their right. This idea presupposes that there is a speaking; an expression that is present but ignorable. Articles 2 and 13 recognize this seeming powerlessness and, in seeking to protect the right to be heard, establish that young people have a right to not be discriminated against and can freely express themselves without fear.

Yet, 95% of its youth population does not feel heard; at least three out of four young people believe the country is headed in the wrong direction and that they are powerless to stop it. Nobody, they believe, is listening. This is a breach of a basic human right. Reacting to the Lekki shooting, one protester  said “we spoke up thinking our voices will matter, only to cruelly find out that even our lives didn’t”

TB Response Rebounding From The COVID-19 Pandemic Downturn!

...World TB Day 2023 Marks the Start of a New Era: Yes! We Can End TB!

New Coalition of Leaders to End TB to be announced as preliminary data expected to show reduction in gap between estimated TB cases and diagnosed patients, to less than 3 million people in 2022 

GENEVA/VARANASI (24 March 2023)—The Stop TB Partnership today issued a positive World TB Day reset, ‘Yes! We Can End TB,’ to rally the international community to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. The Stop TB Partnership Board and partners convened for the first time during World TB Day in Varanasi, India—the country with the highest TB burden but also with high political commitment, ambition, hard work and a robust plan to end TB. On the sidelines of the One World TB Summit, the board and partners embraced a post-pandemic call to action that will see new efforts, research, tools and innovations put into practice.

Time For African Leaders To Look Beyond American Democracy

 By Amos Adegbite

Time has come for African leaders to look inward and come up with a representative government not fashioned after American democracy. This becomes imperative because of another “Summit for Democracy” being organised by America where many African leaders have been invited to be “lectured” by President Joe Biden on democracy.

A grassroots politician in Nigeria, Raphael Adeyanju, is convinced that many African countries will continue to be in crisis if they did not develop a government that will take into consideration, the culture and values cherished by their people. To him, America is not in a position to teach Africans how to govern their countries.

2023 General Elections: Is Nigeria Beyond Redemption?

 By Clement Uzoanya

Whatever has a beginning is said to have an end. But it seems that the deplorable Nigerian situation keeps reinventing itself, thus robbing citizens of the dividends of democracy. Is this God’s will for Nigeria and Nigerians or have Nigerians failed repeatedly to actualise God’s plan for a country that is rich in virtually every ramification?

Many Nigerians looked forward to the 2023 general elections for many reasons, among which were: the large number of youth population involved and interested; the fact that the elections were not the traditional two-horse race; the repeated assurances from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; the signing of the 2022 Electoral Act which contained the deployment of technology; the increasingly depressing state of the economy, among others. So, the build-up to the elections was one filled with a nostalgia of anxiety, apprehension, hope that the time has come for us to get things right. But did we? 

Nigeria: Democracy Is Dead!

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

On March 18, 2023, some Nigerians, incurable optimists I must say, still went out to cast their votes in the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections after the presidential and National Assembly elections fiasco of February 25, believing that Nigeria is still redeemable. 

Well, I am not one of them. I used to be sanguine as well before the presidential election, having been taken in by President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of bequeathing the country a legacy of credible elections. The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, was a real charmer who totally took me in in the days leading up to the elections.

The International Criminal Court And Alleged Selective Justice

 By ‘Femi D. Ojumu

Ordinarily, there would be no justification for the International Criminal Court (ICC) because domestic tribunals would effectively and robustly adjudicate criminal proceedings, meting out the correct sanctions. Interpol and related institutions would gather intelligence, apprehend criminals/suspects and, subject to relevant interposing extradition treaties between states, render them to those jurisdictions in which they are being sought for prosecution. Ditto, leaders and nations would routinely abide by the dictates of international law. 

Unfortunately, that’s all phantasmagoria. Realistically, there are bad actors, rogue states, criminal proxies; they seek to evade justice too! They commit terrible crimes, which by the way, are not victimless. On the contrary, the emanating crimes oftentimes result in financial loss. Even worse, the unholy trinity of destruction, displacement and deaths impacting innocent people in varying degrees. Should the world bury its head in the sand and do nothing? No!

Peter Obi Launches Legal Challenge Against The Outcome Of The February Presidential Election

 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has launched a legal challenge against the outcome of the February 25, 2023 Nigerian Presidential Election.

It promises to be a very interesting case which has captured the interest of the international media, diplomats, several agencies and people abroad. The attention of many Nigerians and non-Nigerians is glued to the case to see the outcome...

*Peter Obi and his wife, Margaret, after casting their votes during the presidential elections of February 25, 2023, in Anambra State...

Lagos: Just As I said!

 By Ochereome Nnanna

When strong presidential candidates of Igbo and Yoruba extractions, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, respectively, emerged from the primaries in the just concluded general elections 2023, I knew we were in for some trying times. I wrote on this several times. I warned that Lagos would be the worst hotbed of tensions.

*Peter Obi shakes hands with Bola Tinubu

While the tensions in other parts of the country would be political in nature, I reasoned that that of Lagos would be both political and ethnic. Some of the Yoruba elements would be programmed by desperate politicians who had lost the love of their people to beef the Igbo. The objective would be to unsettle the nationalistic Obidient Movement by stirring anti-Igbo sentiments in Lagos, and hopefully save Tinubu and his APC from losing power in the nation’s economic capital.

About God And Man’s Will In Democratic Governance

 By IkeChukwu U. Unegbe

It was the usual jocularly greeting and exchange of banters with this my friend (name withheld) recently; followed with “O, boy, hope you are seeing the political campaigns and issues in our country?” It was meant both as a question and an open ended comment. My friend then responded: “Well, I am not involved, I don’t believe in democracy; it does not swing with the Will of The Almighty.” 

We didn’t go into any further discussions on this occasion, as we just dispersed to our various other engagements for the day. But the response occupied my head, my mind and my thoughts; refusing to disappear. That discussion was before the 25th February, 2023 Presidential elections which were held all over Nigeria.

Buhari, Yakubu, Atiku And The Death Of Trust

 By Tunde Olusunle  

If anyone had prophesied the retention of Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in that office to which he was appointed in 2015 by Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s president, beyond 2019, he would have been pilloried as a false prophet. Yakubu, a Professor of Political History and International Relations, was on the staff of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna before his appointment to that office.

*Buhari and Yakubu 

We run a country which naively confers seriousness, integrity and respectability on people simply on the basis of their often padded and advertised curriculum vitae. Just being a professor and coming from the geo-religiously “correct” extreme of the country privilege certain people for consideration and appointment into specific offices and the accrual of benefits therein.