Soyinka In Search Of Nigeria's Next Nobel Honoree

 By Banji Ojewale

Contrary to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 2015 seriocomic commentary on Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka (Kongi) as a man habitually hunting for guinea fowl and fine wine, the writer has lately revealed that his life isn’t all about wining and dining.

*Soyinka 

Obasanjo (Obj) had said during a spat between them that he could always turn to Kongi if he wanted wine and guinea fowl. He said: ‘’He (Soyinka) is surely a better wine connoisseur and a more successful aparo (guinea fowl) hunter than a political critic…If I want somebody to give me the best wine, one of the people I will go to is Wole Soyinka and I know he has a taste for good wine…’’

Hunters As Missing Link In Nigeria’s Security Architecture

 By Bonaventure Melah

Until Nigeria takes necessary and bold steps to commission a special security agency that is dedicated and committed to fighting crimes and criminalities that are planned and executed within and around forests, all efforts by the government towards ending heinous crimes like banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and others, would continue to be a mirage.

Today, Nigeria has the Police which fights and prevents crimes within cities and rural communities, the Nigeria Army which was created to protect the nation from external aggression and insurrection, the Navy to fight crimes within the nation’s territorial waters as well the Air Force to defend our air space while the NSCDC oversee national assets and work to stop pipeline, public electricity and other forms of vandalism and related crimes.

Nigeria’s Malgovernance, Misgovernance, Bad Governance

 By Oseloka H. Obaze

A recent trending photo of the leaders of the BRICS nations hobnobbing and holding hands across-the-chest spoke eloquently to the group’s vital missing link and presumptive member. That photo brought to mind missed opportunities and lessons learned. It also brought to the fore, the fate of Nigeria: a country that is prima facie qualified to be the sixth member of that intergovernmental organization, but is not.

*Tinubu
Nigeria’s membership would have expanded the name of the group to BRINCS, expanded her sphere of global influence, market, acceptability and balance. Her exclusion from the BRICS expansion coincides with the imminent implosion of ECOWAS under her chairmanship.

Nigeria’s Convocation Of Clowns

 By Kenechukwu Obiezu

Nigeria is currently entertaining a conversation over whether it is a country of clowns. The conversation was ignited by Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s Vice President. At an event in Abuja, Shettima described Nigerians celebrating the free fall of the Naira against the dollar as clowns. Particularly, Shettima chided them for their celebrations on microblogging site X.

*Shettima and Tinubu and their wives 

Clowns imply a circus, and the use of the word by Shettima evokes memories of a 2018 interview of then President Muhammadu Buhari when he described Nigerian youths as lazy.

The Civilian Coups In Senegal, Guinea Bissau, And ECOWAS Ambivalence

 By Owei Lakemfa

There are civilian or constitutional coups in Guinea Bissau and Senegal, yet the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is pretending otherwise. It appears interested only in military coups, not those carried out by its bosses in the Heads of State Summit.

Yet, the ingredients of a coup are present in both countries where the constitution is subverted, the President assumes dictatorial powers, parliament is illegally banned as is the case in Guinea Bissau or emasculated as in Senegal, and the judiciary is under siege to do the bidding of the President.

How Subsidy Removal Fuels Hunger In The Land

 By Adekunle Adekoya

Last week the video of a man seen crying in front of a market stall where he had gone to buy foodstuffs trended heavily on the internet, as it was widely shared across many platforms — chat groups on WhatsApp, on Facebook, and others. The man was seen in front of a shop where common foodstuffs like rice, beans, gari and others were on display for sale. After asking for the prices of the food items, he realised that he couldn’t afford to buy them with the money he had. He broke down, crying.

It is trite news that prices of everything, including and especially food items, have grown wings, taken off from the ground where they were before May 29, 2023, hit the roof, burst through into the skies, and are now headed for outer space. What is more worrisome is the rate at which prices increase. Sometimes it’s at three-day intervals, at other times, weekly, and most fearful of all, daily.

2027 Presidency: Atiku’s Political Naivety Beggars Belief

 By Olu Fasan

Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, made his sixth attempt to become Nigeria’s president last year, 30 years after his first foray into presidential politics in 1993. He failed. However, God sparing his life, Atiku wants to make his seventh attempt in 2027, aged 80.

*Atiku 
Leaving aside the age for the moment, what does Atiku think will change in Nigeria’s political landscape in 2027 to make his putative seventh attempt different from his previous six attempts? Simply put, nothing! We are students of our own experience after the event. But Atiku seems to have learned nothing from his past failed presidential bids.

Tinubu’s Unhappy 8 Months In Office

 By Dan Onwukwe

Can the news get any uglier for President Bola Tinubu than it is already? It’s not yet half-time, but as Tinubu, wherever he is in Paris, France right now, he may be pondering anxiously where his government has taken Nigerians in just eight months of his presidency, an office he so desperately wanted, and got in most unquestionable fashion. He must also be thinking how much harder it is being the President of Nigeria.

*Tinubu

Truth is, there’s big trouble everywhere. Even in Abuja, his official residence, insecurity has squeezed everyone to a corner. Kidnappers are daily on the prowl, taking their victims at ease, and demanding  hefty ransom. First Lady, Remi Tinubu had recently suggested intense, fervent prayers as the answer to the problem of terrorism in the land.

Insecurity: Mr President, Don’t Ignore Call For State Police

 By Ray Ekpu

In the last one year I must have written up to a dozen articles on the intractable problem of insecurity in the country. How can I stop when insecurity has not stopped harassing us. It has become a daily nightmare because nowhere is safe today, neither the road nor your house.

Six sisters and their father from the Al-Kadriya family who lived in the Bwari area of Abuja were kidnapped from their residence. They killed the most senior girl when there was a delay in paying the ransom. Then a benevolent Nigerian volunteered to pay the ransom which led to the release of the five girls.

Is Bola Tinubu Overwhelmed Or Simply Incompetent?

 By Dan Onwukwe

When things go wrong in a country, it’s fair to ask: why? Why are things steadily getting worse rather than better since Bola Tinubu was sworn in as President of Nigeria a little more than 8 months ago?

*Tinubu
Is the worsening insecurity, unbearable hardship and a  near collapse of the economy, the result of his incompetence, or simply, that of a leader who was badly packaged and sold to  a large segment of unwary public, but is now completely overwhelmed by the weight of the challenges confronting the country? Better still, and curiously saddening, has Tinubu become the biblical Rehoboam, of Nigerians? You still remember Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, and king David’s grandson who became the instrument to punish and divide Israel?( I Kings 11:11-13). 

Aisha Achimugu And Folly Of The Nigerian Elite

 By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Lately, Mrs. Aisha Achimugu has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Of course, she disagrees, having already put a damper on that by telling those who think so to take a swim in a crocodile-infested pond for all she cares.

*Aisha Achimugu

But let us interrogate the issues to determine who is right.

Mrs. Achimugu, an Abuja-based Nigerian businesswoman, clocked 50 years on January 22, no doubt a milestone age worth celebrating for those so inclined. But in doing that, she went overboard, orchestrating an obscene spectacle.

Abuja Vs Lagos: The Perversity Of Nigeria’s Ethnicised, Zero-Sum Politics

 By Olu Fasan

The controversies over the Federal Government’s plans to relocate some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, from Abuja to Lagos are yet another proof that Nigeria is deeply divided. The country that the British colonialists cobbled together from several ancient kingdoms and distinct civilisations remains today, over 100 years after its forced marriage of convenience, a fractured state, not a unified nation. Nigeria is so polarised that everything is seen through the prisms of ethnicity and religion, and politics is a zero-sum game. 

In societies where politics is perceived as zero-sum struggles, each group sees its ‘loss’ as another group’s ‘gain’. Therefore, there’s intense loss-aversion, whereby each group fights to protect its interests and prevent ‘loss’ to other groups. But oppositional identities and zero-sum politics are characteristics of a fragile state because they are indicative of deep divisions in the society. Instead of inter-group cooperation to achieve common purpose for mutual gains, every group is concerned about loss to other groups, and that loss-aversion shapes political actions. That explains what’s happening in Nigeria.

Nigeria: Disaster Foretold; More Disaster Inevitable!

 By Tony Eluemunor

What Nigeria is going through now, be it religious, ethnic, social, political and economic, national insecurity, uncontrolled militancy and banditry, all our national ills, were disasters that were clearly foretold in a major publication.

*Tinubu

Next month will mark the 30th anniversary of Robert D. Kaplan’s “THE COMING ANARCHY – How scarcity, crime, overpopulation, tribalism, and disease are rapidly destroying the social fabric of our planet”.

Published in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in February 1994, it pretended to scrutinize the entire planet Earth, though it actually focused on West Africa – with Nigeria receiving a special attention which detailed out our problems and warned that things were about to get worse.

Cash Scarcity Lingers, Food Scarcity Follows

 By Dele Sobowale

“Why is cash scarce again?” — Lekan Sote, January 10, 2024.

Lekan, one of the most perceptive columnists in Nigeria today astonished me when he asked that question. Vanguard readers knew as far back as March 2023 that another round of cash scarcity was coming. It occurred in December. It will linger for a while – as long as the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, continue to miss the point. 

Nigerians should actually be asking two questions regarding cash scarcity: will it end? How? The answer to the first is “Yes”; but not next month or perhaps even March. It will certainly not end before a great deal of damage would have been done to the economy. The answer to “How?” will be left untouched for now. The FG and CBN will be shocked to know the major cause of the lingering scarcity. The stranglehold on cash supply is now assuming the characteristics of a plot. 

The Economy Is Wobbling, And The Govt Is Fumbling

 By Ugoji Egbujo

While the naira gasped for breath, the nation sent 400 tourists to Dubai to fill the gallery in a climate change conference. Two weeks ago, the President dabbed powder on the wound. He announced a cut in his entourage and those of his wife and ministers. The general attitude of the country to the looming disaster seems surreal.

At N1400 for a dollar, alarm bells should be ringing. But in the highest offices in the land and amongst politicians, the dollar has become the preferred instrument of settlement and lubrication. Nothing moves the leaders of this country. In the middle of this economic tornado, a minister signed off air tickets to a non-existent Kogi airport. The new government met a mess. But it has been sloppy and haphazard.

Will Buhari Ever Face The Truth About His Govt?

 By Dele Sobowale

“But, the fact in our favour is that nothing was done under the veil of secrecy. We were as transparent and accountable as possible, being aware of the fact that posterity was the ultimate judge” – Ex-President Buhari at the launching of the books chronicling the purported achievements of his administration.

*Femi Adesina and Buhari display the book on Buhari 

I have not read the books; and for two reasons. One, I was not aware they were coming out until the news reports about the launching. Two, I have my own project requiring a lot of money. Reading a book predictably self-serving about the Buhari government is not top on my list of priorities. However, if anybody is willing to donate a set, then I promise, on my word of honour, to read the entire thing – line by line. After that, I will write a rejoinder – for the sake of posterity.

A Word On Nigeria’s Deadly Enemies

 By Banji Ojewale

Our leaders are our deadliest enemies.

Not given to altruism, these leaders don’t also subscribe to the law of the power of example. This is the golden rule insisting that rulers aren’t graded great until they exhibit selfless, sacrificial and Spartan conduct that sparks same virtues in the citizens. But our leaders, elected, selected or ‘dictated,’ believe in the precept of the example of power. Here, the goal is, as you grab power, you must dig in, you must live in it and flaunt it and extend its frontiers like you’d be in its embrace forever.

Tinubu and Buhari

They invest their all in it, nursing it with a lusty affection that outlaws competition or regard for other existential concerns. They bequeath a depressed economy after fattening their personal bank accounts and acquiring more property than they had at the point of entry. They exploit the led and desecrate their sacred office. They arrange a superannuation that glides them into a lifetime of cloying affluence and luxury. 

Toothless Bulldog: Tinubu’s EFCC Can’t Fight Corruption

 By Olu Fasan

Ola Olukoyede, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, recently appointed by Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, is saying the right things and making the right noises about fighting corruption in Nigeria. Recently, he struck a chord with me when he called for unexplained wealth legislation in Nigeria.

*Ola Olukoyede

Unexplained wealth laws are the most powerful tool for tackling corruption, as I wrote in a piece titled: “Fighting corruption? Nigeria must tackle unexplained wealth” (Vanguard, November 22, 2021). Yet, despite my positive opinion of the new EFCC chairman, the stark reality is that the EFCC won’t and can’t make an iota of difference in stemming the inexorable rise of corruption in Nigeria. The agency is so bedevilled that it has become part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Nigeria: The Creeping Celebration Of Vanity: The JAMB Question

 By Owei Lakemfa

My experience in highbrow Asokoro on Friday, January 19, 2024 was like a nightmare. I had an important appointment and I felt comfortable I was going to be some 40 minutes early. Then it happened: blocked roads in the narrow streets. That was when it dawned on me this was the day the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on gubernatorial elections in some eight states. Now, Asokoro is where the Governors have their lodges in the nation’s capital, and some with their supporters had blocked the roads.

I was, like many motorists, trapped, but just when I thought I had extricated myself, the worse happened: Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule and his supporters were celebrating further down, and the road was completely blocked. There was no escape. While they celebrated in Abuja, there were protests and bonfires in the state. At the end of the wild celebrations, Governor Sule told the press at the Presidential Villa that those protesting in his state were just “1,000 people (who) are protesting somewhere”.

Ibadan Explosion And Security Gaps In Oyo State

 By Oludayo Tade 

On the ‘roof-top-bar’ of the Senior Staff Club, University of Ibadan, I sat with my professor friend switching between discussions on the social economic conditions and the precarity of our lives as public university lecturers in Nigeria and watching the African Nations’ cup.

We requested for a bottle of coke and mixed it with water, sipped it when we felt the need to and talked about how those who are supposed to protect Nigerians have abdicated that responsibility.

It was not long when we heard a massive bang, the only thing compared to it was a bomb. Paul, one of the waiters in the club ran up as the surface upon which he stood vibrated heavily. We experienced the same.