Ali May Be Gone But The Bongo System Survives In Gabon

 By Chidi Odinkalu

Citizens of Gabon, the small Central African country and former bastion of French colonialism in the Congo Basin, broke out in spontaneous celebration at the news of the ouster of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, on August 30, 2023. This is the 22nd coup attempt in Africa since 2013, and the 11th successful coup across eight countries since Zimbabwe’s soldiers sacked President Robert Mugabe in 2017.

*Ali Bongo makes first public appearance after suffering a stroke 
This is also the third coup attempt in Gabon’s history and the first to succeed. The coup began on the fourth day of a nation-wide curfew accompanied by a shutdown of the airspace, borders, and the internet and shortly after Gabon’s electoral commission announced under cover of darkness that President Bongo had won another seven-year term in elections in which he allowed no observers.

Chinua Achebe International Symposium and 10th Memorial Celebration Hold At Princeton University

Princeton University’s Africa World Initiative and Program in African Studies in partnership with The Christie and Chinua Achebe Foundation are hosting the Chinua Achebe Symposium and 10th Anniversary Memorial Celebration on September 29th and 30^th, 2023.

The symposium on September 29, with an international cast of senior and emerging scholars, marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Achebe’s blistering political treatise The Trouble With Nigeria. Three panels will examine new directions in Achebe studies, the politics of canonicity, and African literatures in the age of historical reckonings, while a roundtable discussion focuses on leadership and statecraft in Nigeria and Africa.

FG Palliatives: A Grain Of Rice For Each Household!

 By Tunde Olusunle

If you were a student of English in my generation, there were au­thors and titles, African and for­eign, you just had to encounter. Nigerian writers like Daniel Fagunwa, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chris­topher Okigbo, John Pepper Bekeder­emo-Clark, Timothy Aluko, Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, Ola Rotimi, Zulu Sofola, Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, all members of the “first generation” of Nigerian writers; they were irrevo­cable constants.

On the African scene, Nadine Gordimer, Dennis Brutus, Pe­ter Abrahams, Lenrie Peters, Alan Pa­ton, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Meja Mwangi, Simon Gikandi, Camara Laye, Kofi Awoonor, Kofi Anyidoho, Ayi Kwei Armah, Sembene Ousmane, Frantz Fanon, Sonne Mbella Dipoko, Nagu­ib Mahfouz and so on were featured variously on our reading lists. Indeed, in several instances, we had prior ex­posure to the works of some of these icons in the syllabuses of our ordinary school leaving and higher school cer­tificate examinations respectively. In our multi-generic poetry, prose, drama, oral literature and stylistics classes in the university, these legends were fur­ther encountered in various ways.

Palliatives In Nigeria = Two Cups Of Grains!

 By Dele Sobowale

“Blessed are they that expect nothing; for they shall never be disappointed” – Pessimist motto.

Hope renewed is becoming increasingly dream deferred. When President Tinubu announced during the inaugural address that “subsidy is gone”; and followed that with partial harmonization of exchange rates, the “hit the ground running” brigade went berserk with jubilation.

At last, a courageous leader, ready to make the tough decisions and set the nation on sustainable economic prosperity, has arrived. Those of us, who knew from bitter experiences in Nigeria and abroad, were not so sure all was well. We counseled balancing hope with realism. Talk is cheap.

For Tinubu’s Nigeria, It’s From Frying Pan To Fire

 By Emeka Alex Duru

A friend called the other day from Germany to get a true picture of situations in the country. The initial attempt was to pretend that all was well, that, apart from the dust of the February/March elections, there was not much to worry about. But that seemed a big error, in fact, a terrible one. He blurted: “Old Boy (as we address ourselves), you got it wrong on this. Reports I get every day from people at home indicate that things are not working. The emergence of Bola Tinubu has not helped matters. Except those in the corridors of power, every other citizen is panting. What I get is that, for Nigerians, it’s from frying pan to fire.”

*Tinubu

There was nothing to argue with him. Perhaps, at no time have Nigerians had it as rough as they are going through currently. And to think that this is a country that is not at war, yet the citizens are literally passing through hell in the hands of their leaders. It rankles exceedingly. The cost of every basic item in the land has hit the rooftop. Nigerians are hungry and angry! Minor issues that would have been overlooked can now result in fisticuffs. People wear frowns on their faces as if they woke up to continue with unfinished quarrels.

Mr. President And Rising Hunger, Insecurity

 By Yemi Adebowale

Last Tuesday, residents of the Kpansia area of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, in their hundreds, invaded a warehouse in the locality where the state’s emergency management agency keeps food. The story was that the agency was hoarding the items despite the hunger in the land. So, hundreds of people gleefully entered the place, disarmed the security men and stole food that included bags of rice, beans, garri as well as cartons of noodles and bottle water. Officers of the Bayelsa State’s security outfit, Doo Akpo, were swiftly deployed to the warehouse to deal with the invaders and secure the building. They could not stop the famished trespassers.

Few hours after the looting, the state government raised the alarm that the goods were “expired relief materials” donated by some concerned Nigerians during the 2022 flood in the state, and urged the raiders to return them to avoid harming their health. “These items are unfit for human consumption,” declared the government.  The looters cared less. As at press time, not even a teaspoon of rice had been returned by the starving Nigerians. I guess they are delightedly enjoying the food.

Gabonese Coup: The Fault Is Not In The Electorate

 By Owei Lakemfa

The scenario has various strands of familiarity. I mean the military coup of Wednesday, August 30, 2023 that removed Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba. An elected African dictator in a well-fortified Presidential Palace finds his palace has become his prison. It is like the fish realising that the water it is swimming in is boiling.

The Praetorian Guards who swore an oath to defend him even if it means losing their lives, are the same arrow head of the coup. The coup leader is, of course, the Head of the Presidential Republican Guard who only yesterday saluted the President, and today, he is the Head of State with the President as his Prisoner-in-Chief.

President Tinubu’s Hurdles

 By Sunny Ikhioya

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu became the governor of Lagos State in May 1999, he was boisterous and full of enthusiasm, portraying him in the image of a super man. But it was not long before he was confronted by the reality on ground. This reality encapsulated among others things happening in the streets. Lagos was growing increasingly filthy with wastes and becoming unsafe for people. That was after the exit of his predecessor, the famous Brigadier-General Buba Marwa, whom everyone deemed had performed well. 

*Tinubu 

General Marwa’s success was attributed to two clear strategies: keeping the city safe through the introduction of ‘Operation Sweep'(which later transformed to Rapid Response Squad, RRS, under Tinubu) and clearing Lagos of filth.

East-West Road And Shame Of A Nation

 By Jerome Utomi

The world is aware that the Niger Delta area or the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria is prone to many negative influences as a result of successive Federal Governments’ neglect of the region. Some of these challenges are well known and glaring, yet no attention given to addressing them, even though they have a substantial impact on people, corporations and social levels.

A typical example of such monumental neglect is the shoddy state of the East-West Road, a strategic road connecting the country’s busiest and foremost commercial cities in the region. That is why it is baffling that successive administrations in Nigeria had allowed the road to degenerate to such a state of disrepair.

The NYSC’s Relevance And Heightened Insecurity In Nigeria

 By ‘Femi D. Ojumu

The lofty objectives of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Nigeria, upon inception in 1973, by the military administration of General Yakubu “Jack” Gowon (Rtd), were to help foster integration, reconciliation and national unity. Those objectives were relevant at the time, given the unique circumstances of the country.

Historically, the politically fragmented Nigerian configuration, barely five and a half years post-Independence on October 1, 1960, resulted in ruinous coup d’états on January 15, 1966 and July 29, 1966, respectively, both of which claimed the lives of political leaders and others from different parts of the country.

Tinubu’s Government: Where Is Nigeria’s Soul, Moral Compass?

 By Olu Fasan

Every great nation is built on a strong moral foundation. No nation succeeds without, as Plato put it, a “healthy soul”, where reason, passion and will drive leaders and citizens to defend their nation’s best interests. Equally, no nation succeeds without a moral compass, without a robust sense of what’s right and what’s wrong.

*Tinubu 
But Nigeria is a nation where might is right, where the powerful can get away with anything. Nothing has exposed the national soullessness and moral-vacuum more than the emergence of Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president and the indecorous manner in which he formed a “government”.

Floods: The Terror From Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam

 By Rasheed Akinkulie

The floods which periodically sweep across the banks of Rivers Benue and Niger down to the Atlantic Ocean in Bayelsa State emanate from the Lagdo Lake in Northern Cameroon. This occurs seasonally, whenever excess water is released from the Lake to protect the Lagdo dam from bursting, inundating and overwhelming the surrounding towns and villages.

Incidentally, the National Emergency Management Agency recently alerted that 19 states and 56 communities across the country are likely to witness heavy rainfall that can lead to flooding within the month.

What Are The Governors Doing With The Palliatives?

By Rotimi Fasan

At the end of July this year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a nationwide broadcast that Nigeria had been able to save well over a trillion naira following the removal of subsidy on petrol. This was money that would, otherwise, have gone into the dark hole into which the fuel subsidy went. I think it’s fair to say, in the wake of the unbearable suffering Nigerians have been passing through since the end of May that some kind of support (read subsidy) was being enjoyed by Nigerians.

It was just that the effect of it was very minimal compared to the amount we are told went into sustaining the oil subsidy bogey. The best part of the subsidy money went into the pockets and bank accounts of shadowy players in the oil sector, including oil marketers that are too quick to make Nigerians groan by their Shylock-like ways. 

NLC And The Big ‘War’ Ahead

 By Ochereome Nnanna

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is saddled with three mandates. The first is the classical or labour mandate – fighting for the interests of the working class. The second is the social mandate – protecting the interests of the masses in an environment where the ruling elite have increasingly become more selfish, corrupt and incompetent than ever.

It was under the presidency of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole that NLC assumed the social mandate on behalf of Nigerians who were subjected to series of fuel price hikes by the Olusegun Obasanjo government. These measures affected the workers and the general public equally, so Oshiomhole led Labour to bravely tackle the Obasanjo government. From that moment on, the people started looking up to Labour to deploy for them whenever government introduced policies that stoked hardship.

How Much Is Nigeria’s External Reserve?

 By Marcel Okeke

The deafening silence of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) since JP Morgan’s very shocking revelation a few weeks ago that Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) reserves stood at about US$3 billion as at end-December 2022 is really worrisome. 

According to the American financial services firm, a combination of foreign exchange forwards, securities lending, currency swaps, and outstanding contracts has weakened Nigeria’s net external reserves to an all-time low of US$3.7 billion as of the end of last year. Although data from the CBN had shown that Nigeria’s external reserves stood at US$33.88 billion as of August 10, 2023, down from US$37.08 billion at the end of last year, JP Morgan says the country’s “net forex reserves are significantly lower than previously estimated.”

Counting The Costs Of Electoral Impunity In Africa

 By Chidi Odinkalu

Towards the end of 2022, as his country began preparations towards general elections scheduled to take place in the penultimate week of August 2023, Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, contracted an unusual bout of generosity denominated in United States Dollars. First he disbursed US$500,000 to his ministers, comprising 20 cabinet ministers, 13 deputy ministers, and nine provincial ministers supposedly as housing loans. Next, he doled out US$350,000 to directors of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO. The 270 members of parliament – both elected and nominated – each received $40,000. 

*Museveni and Mnangagwa

 As Zimbabwe went to the polls on August 23, it was impossible to escape the feeling that the president had bought and paid for another term in office. In locations known to be sympathetic to the opposition, mostly in the urban areas, voting materials failed to materialise, mysteriously showing up instead in very remote rural areas, thought to be sympathetic to the ruling ZANU-PF party of President Mnangagwa.

Nigeria: Ministers Of Noise

 By Ugoji Egbujo

The noise has started. Rather than embrace sobriety, they have begun with talkativeness. Unfortunately, the public is no longer so impressionable. The economic situation is dire and deft footwork of political chancery cannot bring succour. Politicians who had eight years at the state level to reduce poverty but chose sensationalism are now proselytising like development missionaries from distant lands.

The man in Abuja started with threats. He plans to bulldoze houses. Firm town planning regulation is necessary but those who begin by mouthing regulation and breathing fire often end up as crude and cold extortionists. These guys are not new. A loquacious strong man who is weak on principles is only a loud bully. Nothing useful comes out of arbitrariness except self-serving savagery. Ministers of noise pretending urgency.

The FCT lacks a modern transportation system. The city is littered with dehydrated kabukabus running around like taxis. Soaring fuel prices have made Abuja, the land of a million kabukabus, unlivable for many workers. But any man who governed an oil-rich state and didn’t bother to install any order in public transportation can’t come to Abuja with any ideas. That’s why the FCT minister sounds anachronistic.

The new FCT minister knows how to build small overhead bridges that can be christened flyovers and celebrated with feasts and orchestras. Unfortunately, Abuja can’t be seduced by small things. The sort of monkey-post politics and projects that win politicians oversized accolades in some states can’t faze anybody in Abuja. The new minister should keep his band and vuvuzelas aside and begin to think. This is 2023. Those formulae used by young majors who found themselves as military governors to titillate the public have all expired. The issues are real. Abuja is not susceptible to small-time provincial abracadabra and propaganda.

The Demolition of squatter camps is welcome but the real task is affordable mass housing. The minister should insist that building control and town planning regulatory authorities do their jobs diligently. But his focus must be on big ideas. Abuja needs affordable mass house schemes for low-income earners. Abuja must be reconfigured into a smart city. To attain this status, Abuja needs creativity and innovation rather than the brute force of a restless busybody. Environmental protection. Smart transportation. Efficient shelter. Tourism. It will be difficult for an analogue governor to transform into a digital mayor. But Abuja must start to harness technology for its security.  

The Abyss at Oba

The Onitsha-Owerri road is perhaps the busiest in the southeast. The marriage between the Igbo and commerce is well known, so the road that links major business centres in Igbo land will arguably be one of the busiest in the country. The Onitsha-Owerri road should be of such national strategic importance like Lagos-Ibadan and Kano-Kaduna that it should never be allowed to collapse.

At Oba, a huge erosion crater that can swallow a skyscraper has appeared.

The monstrous gully has eaten half of the road. But nobody seems perturbed. Owerri-bound traffic has been casually diverted to the remaining half of the road. Everybody passes and shakes his head at the bottomless pit. 

Many times every week, the traffic mats up and commuters spend long hours around Oba. Since Umahi represents the region and likes road inspections, he needs to visit in a hurry. When he gets Oba, he should stay far away from that site and use a pair of binoculars to view the chasm because though millions of commoners pass through that stricture every day, a minister shouldn’t take such a risk.  

Indeed, if the country observed safety standards that road ought to have been closed. But closing that road would be subjecting millions of people to torture. Yet the real tragedy is that the federal and state governments appear to be waiting for a calamity to happen. If the hole swallows twenty buses and a hundred souls, then somebody might be moved to dig a mass grave and then start work on the road. 

The hole at Oba is hellish. But it is the story of the land. When that gully cuts the road in two, the cost of fixing it might triple. The cost will be borne by the government but some politicians and their contractor friends will benefit. When a road contract sheds the toga of routine repair job for the apron of a big emergency, katakata will ensue. Chaos and frenzy create ample room for contract inflation and embezzlement.  

The hole looks diabolical. Something precipitate is the offing. The governor of the state, Soludo the Solution must have seen it and reminded the federal government officials of their ownership of the road. He has no immediate solution for it. Because at the current exchange rate and cost of cement, that road might swallow a significant portion of the state’s revenues. And the federal government, busy with planning how to distribute cash to cushion the withdrawal of petrol subsidy, is also burdened with fashioning out democracy for the Niger Republic rather than fighting erosion in Oba.

*Egujor is a commentator on public issues

 

Nyesom Wike: In Abuja, Use A Machete, Not A Sword!

By Owei Lakemfa

Minister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, I join many Nigerians in welcoming you to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, as its minister. You are no stranger to the country’s capital, having been a minister under the Jonathan administration. You arrived at the FCT last Monday with a bang, and since then, the mass media have not stopped buzzing, with some predicting that with you as Minister, the FCT will be ‘hot’. Brother Wike, do not be a conventional Nollywood character whose notions and moves are predictable. Don’t be an archetypal Patience Ozokwor in Nollywood or Clint Eastwood in Hollywood. Rather, be a governor in the FCT whose primary duties are the well-being and security of all Nigerians.

Portfolios were not previously affixed to ministerial nominees, so nobody would accuse you of not having a plan for the FCT. Therefore, what I advise you to do is sit down with your aides and staff to write a programme, and most importantly, get the buy-in of the people. 

Does Killing Babies In Niger Bring Glory To Our Name?

 By Femi Fani-Kayode

A dear and respected friend of mine who was once our Ambassador to a European country, who has relatives and strong links in and with Niger Republic and who is well versed in security and intelligence matters, told me that up to 40 babies are dying each day in Niger as a consequence of our cutting off electricity supplies to them.

*Tinubu and Fani-Kayode

According to him, these babies die in hospitals and incubators across the country as a consequence of the fact that there is no electricity supply and there is no fuel to power their generators.

This was confirmed by one Dr. Abdoul Djibou, a Nigerien medical practitioner, in an interview with Newsonlineng.com. They wrote, “According to a source in Niger Republic, Dr. Abdoul Djibou, there have been reports from Dosso Regional Hospital and Cominak Hospital about the recent spike in infant mortality.

Bayonets For Democracy

 By Chidi Odinkalu

Democracy is a very evocative notion. In the name of restoring or defending it, presidents have wielded bayonets, levied war, and executed coups. On August 10, 2023 a summit of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, rose from its convening in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, with an explicit order for “the deployment of the ECOWAS Standby Force to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger”.

 The following day, the headline was “West African nations order troops to restore democracy in Niger after military coup.” But, if the idea of “ordering troops” to “restore democracy” sounds like an oxymoron, it’s because it actually is.