Let Me Breathe, I Don’t Want To Die!

 By Owei Lakemfa

Two different but related cries ring in my head. “Let the Poor breathe” and “I don’t want to die.” The first is the cry across the country as the masses are being suffocated by inflation and over 90 million poor get hungrier.

*Dr. Vwaere Diaso

The second is the plaintive cry of young medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, whose calling is to save lives. However, when her life was in danger with her limbs broken by an heartless system, her blood flowing from various parts and she knew her life was ebbing and she desperately needed help, her dying cry to her colleagues was: “I don’t want to die.”

Bola Tinubu’s Risky Niger Gamble

 By Farooq A. Kperogi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few days ago wrote to the Senate to inform it of an impending “Military build up and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.” This is a dangerous, ill-advised, potentially self-destructive gamble Tinubu would do well to give up because it has the potential to consume not just him but also Nigeria.

*Tinubu 

I detest military regimes because I am repulsed by any system that imposes unequal, predetermined structural limits on the aspirational compass to leadership. It is for the same reason that I despise the unearned, inherited authority that monarchies represent. Everyone should, at least in theory if not in practice, have the latitude to aspire to the highest level of leadership in the land. Military rule limits leadership to professional people, as monarchies limit leadership to bloodline.

Chasing Rats In Niger Republic

By Ochereome Nnanna

When the immediate former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, came to power in January 2017, he took stock of the situation the country was in. Over the decades, warlike America had become war-torn though the fighting was always on foreign land. It spends an average of $1 trillion on defence and wars annually. Its troops were mired all over the Middle East and Asia, especially in such countries as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Trump, who campaigned on a mantra of Making America Great Again, MAGA, decided to de-escalate belligerence. The troops must come home. America must make peace with its traditional foes – Russia, China, North Korea and others. America must suspend its “big brother” role to the European Union and let them shift for themselves, at least for the time being. America must rebuild the coal-fired energy sector and revamp abandoned towns. America must rebuild its broken philosophical and cultural foundations and become America once again.

Panacea For Gender-Based Violence

 By Adeze Ojukwu

Violence has become the new norm for most communities, countries and continents. Sadly, women tend to disproportionately bear the brunt of these criminalities. There is ample evidence that violence against women seems to be escalating despite the global campaign against such violations. This is quite unfortunate, considering that many women leaders and activists are fighting, vigorously, to end all forms of ancient and modern barriers deliberately established by societies to devour females and their rights. 

The on-going FIFA Women’s World Cup, being hosted by Australia and New Zealand, provides not just an elixir for entertainment but a veritable window to celebrate female football czars, at the Mundial. Featuring at the highest global all-ladies football competition, as in all world tournaments, is no mean feat. 

Before Marching To Niamey, Let Us Pause

 By Owei Lakemfa

The new military rulers in Niger Republic, the country which marked independence day on Thursday, August 3, 2023 have a Sunday ultimatum from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. It is that they give up power and restore elected President Mohammed Bazoum to power or face serious measures, including possible invasion.

ECOWAS also imposed sanctions, including border closures, a no-fly zone and the freezing of Nigerien assets. The options seem to be that if former Presidential Guard head, General Abdourahamane Tchiani and his boys do not give up power by that day, ECOWAS would either add more sanctions and pressure, or invade Niger. The issues are, however, not as straight forward; there are many complications, including foreign interests.

Nigeria: The ‘Demise’ Of The Peoples Democratic Party

 By Olu Fasan

Once upon a time, a political party bestrode Nigerian politics like a colossus. It governed Nigeria for 16 years and vowed to rule for 60. But it’s utter hubris. Buffeted from crisis to crisis, a deep rot set in, then an existential decline. Charles Darwin famously said that any organism that cannot adjust to its environment will become extinct. In the struggle for existence, it’s survival of the fittest; only the strong organisms will continue to exist, the weak will succumb to extinction. That’s the story of the Peoples Democratic Party!

In truth, PDP is not dead, not extinct; it’s still alive, albeit on life support. Thus, it’s more appropriate to say that PDP is dying, that it’s on a deathbed. The undertakers and political vultures are circling, and whether the party can survive, whether it can escape extinction, depends on how it handles Nyesom Wike and his gang of renegades. 

Nigeria: Is There A Reason To Be Hopeful?

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Is Nigeria making progress? Is there any reason to be optimistic about the future? These are the questions that continue to concentrate my mind as the country and its leadership continue to fumble. Ordinarily, I am a very optimistic person with a positive outlook on life. I would rather look at a half of a glass of water and see it as half-full than half-empty. But wishing Nigeria the best or being hopeful that things will get better does not necessarily translate to reality. The vehicle that transports hope to the destination of reality is positive action.

*Tinubu 

Esther Boyd, the Editorial Director for State of Formation, an offshoot of the Journal of Interreligious Studies, JIRS, in a 2016 article, “Hope is an Action,” wrote: “Hope as an action means pushing boundaries, dismantling barriers, and taking steps – however small they may be – one by one, towards the better that we’re hoping for. To hope for something means to strive towards it, to build it if it doesn’t already exist, and to keep moving forward.” But hope, as Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher and cultural critic, once noted could be “the worst of all evils, for it prolongs the torments of man”.

New Private Universities: No Shortcut To Quality Education

 By Levi Obijiofor

Anyone who is not baffled by the blunders committed by clueless political leaders who governed Nigeria since independence in October 1960 must be in deep slumber. Two weeks before the inauguration of a new government on May 29, 2023, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the establishment of 37 new private universities. That decision by the Muhammadu Buhari government flew in the face of reality.

You have to wonder the kind of reasons that convinced the FEC to endorse the new universities in a country in which existing universities are struggling to find and hire qualified teaching staff, to provide quality teaching and research, to establish good libraries, and to provide high-speed Internet and other resources that would enable academic staff and students to achieve their teaching and learning objectives.

African Leaders And Public Funds

  By Jason Osai

Desirous of foreign loan to invigorate the ailing Nigerian economy, a Nigerian President set off from the sprawling, multiple mansion presidential lodge in Aso Rock, Abuja to London for a meeting with his British counterpart. Driven in a 36-car motorcade of stretch limousines and other luxurious cars to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), he boarded one of the ten presidential jets and zoomed off to London. 

At Heathrow Airport, two stretch limousines, some SUVs and six despatch riders are at his service including a retinue of staff from the diplomatic mission who virtually “drop to their knees to catch every drop of his sneeze”. At No 10 Downing Street, Mr. President is ushered into the modestly furnished office of his host, the Prime Minister (PM) of Great Britain. The PM lives in an equally modestly furnished apartment in the same building on a street that is open 24/7 to everyday traffic for everyday people, a rather striking contrast with the maximum security exclusivity of Aso Rock, far away from the reach of everyday Nigerians. 

Senate And The Poor Next Door

 By Andy Ezeani

The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as with most public institutions in the country, hardly gets embarrassed with anything or under any circumstance. Were it otherwise, the upper chamber of the country’s National Assembly would have ended last week with its tails between its legs. It ought to. But that was not so. On the contrary, the lawmaking institution embarked on a bullish pushback against an obvious gaffe that it ought to feel thoroughly embarrassed at. 

*Akpabio and Tinubu

The strenuous effort last week, marshalled by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramola, on the umbrage taken by some citizens at the seeming mockery of the poor on the floor of the Senate led by the Senate President himself, was quite pathetic. Couched in highfalutin language that came across more like a students’ union composition than any purposeful communication from such height, the Senate missed an opportunity to cast a better image of itself. 

Climate Change And Threats Of Another Pandemic

 By Adeze Ojukwu

Another deadly pandemic is imminent. In fact, it looms large. It is scary. It is dreadful. The world is rattled. Environmentalists, researchers, doctors and policy makers are agitated. Questions about the when, why, how of the omnious outbreak and other flustering posers are mounting at various high-level interventionist global conferences. Indeed, this verdict remains a reality, that cannot be easily waved away. 

Director General of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Adhanom Ghebreyesus, handed down this grievous news, at the just-ended 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. He said, “The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains.” 

Killings And Killings Everywhere!

 By Okey Anueyiagu

Every second that we watch, read, or listen to the news, all that confronts us is the disastrous impact of the killings in our communities and around the world. The harm that these killings has caused us, is incalculable and extremely consequential. Decades of evidence and damning revelations have exposed this phenomenon, and its devastating effect on Individuals, families, communities and humanity, as utterly disdainful.

Today, it is crucial to acknowledge our individual and collective roles in catalyzing the millions, upon millions of lives, mostly of innocent people, that have been willfully taken by the wickedness of their fellow humans. One must be forced to question the motivations that have created these far-reaching consequential disruptions to human lives and existence – are they actions motivated by political expediency, religious bigotry, ethnic and tribal hate, or racist motives? Perhaps these rampant killings are as a result of economic or monetary considerations, or by some other mundane reasons.

Nigeria: Subsidy As Banana Peel

 By Sunny Ikhioya

The hardship and angry reactions engendered by the petrol subsidy removal have clearly shown why past leaders of of this country treated it with a long spoon. It is a make or mar decision: you either leave it as it is or you face the consequences. President Bola Tinubu has decided to tackle it head on and face the consequences. Will he succeed? Time will tell. 

It is one thing to be bold, it is another thing to ascribe wisdom to boldness; the circumstances and conditions must be ripe for it. Like they say in criminology, it is better to allow a criminal to go scot-free, than to pass sentence on an innocent man that you are not sure of his guilt. Wouldn’t it be better for the poor citizens to enjoy their subsidy, even if a few individuals are fleecing our common patrimony.

The Coup In Niger

 By Nick Dazang

The Czar of military coup d’etats in Nigeria once offered us a useful glimpse into the prime motivation and raison d’etre for the overthrow of governments by force. Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, a putschist par excellence, and a veteran of all successful coups, except that in which the late General Sani Abacha ousted the illicit Interim National Government, ING, of Chief Ernest Shonekan, once stated that all coups were inspired by the subsisting frustration in a given society.

In the aftermath of the 1983 coup, which ushered in the draconian administration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was, a well respected Nigerian Editor, fed up by the chicanery and ineptitude of the President Shehu Shagari administration, proclaimed that God was a Nigerian. In retrospect, this well regarded Editor must  rue his effusive endorsement of military rule. The flip side to this unrestrained display of emotion must be the sedate but poignant observation by Mr. Peter Enahoro, one Africa’s best Journalists.

Hunger And Anger In The Homeland

 By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

There is hunger in the land. Real hunger. There is food and food everywhere. But majority of our citizens cannot afford to feed three times daily. Inflation is eroding the purchasing power of the naira. Transportation costs have gone up. The costs of medications have gone up. Incomes have not gone up. It is cheap to die; it is also expensive to die.

A paradox. A little emergency could take one’s life. Organ failure, expensive to treat, can take one’s life too. People are starving. I do not refer to quality of feeding. I am concerned that there are too many people who are now compelled to go through days without meals.

The New Strongmen Of The Sahel

 By Chidi Odinkalu

In July 2013, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, then Egypt’s army chief, sacked his benefactor and Egypt’s first democratically elected president, President Mohammed Morsi, in a military coup, installed himself as military ruler of the country and suspended the country’s constitution. And 11 months later, at the end of May 2014, the General proclaimed himself the elected ruler of Egypt, winning 93% of the votes in an election with a pre-determined outcome in which he was the only candidate with any chance of being declared winner. 

The African Union, which had previously decided that coup plotters should not use the benefit of their incumbency to confer democratic legitimacy on themselves, quickly embraced General Sisi, even making him Chair of their Assembly of Heads of State and Government in his first term four years later. 

President Tinubu: Set The Captives Free!

 By Owei Lakemfa

Violence was expected last Friday, July 28, 2023 when the Shia population in the country marked the Ashura Festival held worldwide by the Shiites. The prediction almost did not come to pass but for a last minute duel near the Wuse Market, Abuja when as usual, armed security men engaged the Shiites, and bullets flew.

*Tinubu

No, it is not as if the Shiites are bounded to violence, but the security services, including the armed forces, seem to have locked it in their brains that the Shiites will always be violent, so a counter-force must be on ground. It is like a cat and mouse game and the mouse cannot plead innocence even if the facts on ground supports its claim. Even if the Shiite processions are peaceful, the security services assume they have a duty to disperse them because the latter would not have taken permission from the police.

Smouldering Embers Of Subsidy Removal

 By Adekunle Adekoya

“No politician can sit on an issue if you make it hot enough.” — Saul Alinsky(1909-1972

Well, the subsidy removal issue is clearly a very hot one for all Nigerians, and if I may add, irrespective of status. This is because costs have not just risen, they have doubled, tripled, and quadrupled in a space of less than 30 days. May 30, the day after President Tinubu announced removal of subsidy on petrol, prices of everything, from food items to services hit the roof, burst through, and headed for the sky.

That was when petrol sold in the Lagos area for N488 per litre and N537 in farther areas like Damaturu and Maiduguri. Then, barely 20 days after, new prices of petrol took effect — now N568 in the Lagos area and N617 in Abuja. Again, prices of items took their cue, left the sky, and headed for outer space. We are all affected since we all buy in the same market; the difference is that our shock absorbers are not of similar strength.

The Coup In Niger And The Moncada Barracks Attack

By Owei Lakemfa

Exactly 70 years separate the July 26, 1953 suicidal attack on Moncada Barracks by Cuban youths who wanted to remove the military from power, and this Wednesday’s coup in Niger Republic which removed elected President Mohamed Bazoum and restored military rule. The coup plotters, styling themselves as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said in a speech by Air Force Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane that their treasonable move “is as a result of the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance”.

Indeed, Niger, like many other African countries, is a paradox. It is one of the poorest countries in the world with 41 per cent of its 20 million people living on less than a dollar. It depends a lot on aid. Nigeria under former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 provided it with N1.4 billion worth of vehicles to run government and also took loans to build railway from Nigeria into Maradi in Niger Republic.

Adamu’s Forced Exit: The Post-Power Humiliation Of Buhari

 By Olu Fasan

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s immediate past president, had a post-power syndrome. He once said he would find life difficult if a president from another party succeeded him. He genuinely feared that a successor from another party would treat him and his allies the same way he treated his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, and his loyalists in 2015.

*Adamu and Buhari 
So, Buhari exploited his incumbency and pulled all the stops to secure “victory” for Bola Tinubu, saying “he will continue my legacy”. Indeed, in his last days in office, Buhari made several appointments and launched several initiatives as if saying: “they’re safe in Tinubu’s hands.”