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Nigerian Journalism and The Guardian Newspaper. By Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde Nigeria is in a mess. And no profession, save for party politics, mirrors what the country has become more than the journalism profession. Today, Nigerian Journalism is in a state of disarray. One could even say journalism have been in a state of putrefaction in the last decade or so, so much so it is becoming harder and harder to vouch for the integrity and sincerity of the Fourth Estate. No one needs convincing: the profession is in dire need of reorientation, reeducation and even rebirth. It does! More than any time in the last sixty years, the profession has become a cathedral of excesses, a pool of duplicity. However goes journalism goes a nation. In Nigeria, both are going to the dogs. Details
The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Debates, Etc. By Abdulbasit Mukhtar On March 3, 2008, President George W. Bush named the first special envoy of the United States to the OIC in the person of Texas entrepreneur Sada Cumber. The envoy’s first assignment was his participation at the 11th Islamic Summit Conference, held in Dakar, Senegal, an event also attended by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua at the head of Nigeria’s delegation. Any observer of developments in the OIC who attempts to make sense of Mr Cumber’s appointment would not be wrong to conclude that President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the 10th Summit held in Malaysia in 2003 and the subsequent admission of Russia to the OIC as observer in 2005 are probably part of the reasons for President Bush’s action. In other words, both the United States and Russia understand the role of Islam in international affairs and none of them would want to be outdone by the other in an important organization like the OIC. Details
The state of origin policy has done more harm than good for the people of Nigeria. In politics, the state of origin policy has made it impossible for Nigerian citizens to be voted for in an election to fill a position that is other than their state of origin. A Kano state indigene cannot run for a governorship position of Imo State, even if he or she had resided for fifty years in that state or was born in Imo state. Details
The Graves Are Not Yet Full. By Philip Emeagwali Africa’s wars are steering the continent toward a sea of self-destruction so deep that even the greatest horror writers are unable to fathom its depths. So, given our circumstances, Martin Luther King was a name unknown, a dead man among millions, with a message that never reached the shores of Biafra. Neither did his message reach the ears of “The Black Scorpion,” Benjamin Adekunle, a tough Nigerian army commander, whose credo of ethnic cleansing knew nothing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement: “We shoot at everything that moves, and when our forces move into Igbo territory, we even shoot things that do not move.” Details
Na lie, he no dey kampe. By Hakeem Babalola No one would be able to save him from this demise because to him, and right from his mother’s womb, it is an art of failure to be gentle or to be considered polite. To him, the rudimentary of living lies in rugged personality not sheepish. This is what had defined his path right from the incipient stage of endeavour. He would go on to preach orderliness whereas he violently believes in chaos or near anarchy, an attribute he considers as a tactical weapon to unleash in order to remain relevant. Details
Diaspora Perspectives On Maurice Iwu And The 2007 Elections. By Jimmy Osifo A lot of folks are attacking Iwu because of their personal or political frustrations with his tenure as INEC Chair - it is either they could not compromise him or prevent the elections from holding or that they had some personal spats with him for losing an election that they had no political capacity to win in the first place. Some, like a Professor Bolaji Aluko with us here in the United States took it personal because his brother had lost a bid for the Senate, and he seems to openly blame Iwu for this. Further, it is well known to us in the US that Bolaji Aluko has a personal professional frustration with Iwu as a fellow Professor that was able to return home to something as important as chairing INEC while Aluko is trapped in America, having lost all hope when Atiku that promised him something lost the election to a Yar’Adua that has continued to ignore him. Details
Nigerian Pensioners As Living Ghost. By Uba Aham
Most Nigerian pensioners virtually live in hell. Owed arrears of
retirement benefits and pensions months on end, these senior citizens
earn neglect instead of respect. At the moment, pensioners of the
Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) readily fall into this endangered
category of the country’s retirees. Dennis Iweanya, chairman of Nigeria
Union of Pensioners (Railway Branch), Eastern District Council, recently
made a shocking revelation, saying that between 1996 and this period,
over 10,000 railway pensioners in the country have had to die out of
frustration, hunger and starvation.
Kannywood: Between Selfishness, Dilemma and the Search for Aesthetic in Film. By Attahiru Kawu-Bala The last six months, depending on the side you freely choose to belong, saw the fall of Kannywood from the “heroic” stand it has enjoyed among its fans. It has been anticipated in many quarters even among the few, early Kannywood’s defectors. Since then Kannywood has been in the news and the debate is fascinatingly raging on. We need to thank the journalists that conducted the series of the interviews. Even if for a single thing it has lend a hand to unearth, once again, the dilemma that has kept hanging on the affairs of Kannywood. Details
Will Obasanjo Explode Yar’Adua’s Anti-Graft Balloon? By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye But, for the past few weeks now, Nigerians have witnessed with utter disbelief and deep pain horrifying details of the worst form of heartless plunder this nation had ever witnessed, perpetrated with utmost impunity and even fanfare, under the direct supervision of the same man Nuhu Ribadu had told us was above board. About $16 billion was callously squandered under the pretext of fixing the nation’s problematic power sector, plunging the country and its hapless citizens deeper into thicker and more suffocating darkness. Details
It has been reported that “Christians are now leading the fight against AIDS in many nations. In South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu estimates churches and Christian organizations are providing over 60% of HIV community programme in Africa” (Dixon2002:3). Yet African health experts and theologians have warned that African worldviews and theologies are continuing to distort the seriousness and/or the urgency of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the continent. Details
Obasanjo/EXXONMOBIL Bonny IPP Deal: Felony Or Fraud? By Ifeanyi Izeze The level of executive callousness in the alleged plundering of billions of dollars by the leadership of the immediate past administration as revealed at the House of Representatives Public Hearing on the Power Sector was very disturbing or rather worrisome. Equally disturbing was an allegation that the immediate past president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo while also doubling as the sole administrator of the nation’s oil ministry single handedly allocated hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil to ‘potential’ power plant builders under terms that were unfavorable to both the Federal Government and the Nigerian people. Details
Arewa's NNDC, Northern Governors & Accountability. By Bashir Ibrahim Hassan Recently, the Northern Governors during their meeting in Kaduna reached an agreement with the NNDC to invest five billion naira in order to further strengthen the capital base of the company. There is nothing wrong in the Northern States Governors pumping in such a huge amount of money, if the Company is measuring up to standards, and its shareholders, the Northern States are reaping some benefits. Unfortunately, the entire North, has remained absolutely backward in all the areas the NNDC claims to have invested, e.g. Agriculture, Mining, Capital Market, Oil exploration, etc. Details
On Imperatives of Food Importation in Nigeria. By Isa Muhammad Inuwa To say that Nigeria is basically an agrarian state with both the Northern and Southern parts growing and producing variety of food and cash crops, even prior to the discovery of oil, is never an overstatement. In fact, to some extent, Nigeria can be safely termed as the food basket of the West African region at which, despite its huge and ever increasing population, serves as major supplier of food items to most of its neighbouring nations and the countries north of the Sahara. Details
More Reasons Why The Tribunal Ruling In Abia State Cannot Stand: Part One. By Aloy Ejimakor Thus, as regards the issue bordering on Orji’s membership in a secret society, our law of evidence was variously violated both in its spirit and black letters because it strictly requires that no photographic or video evidence is admissible without proper foundation or authentication, unless in some rare cases where such evidence is at once both self-authenticating and non-hearsay – meaning that such evidence is generally viewed as hearsay unless robust evidence is led by the proponent showing why it should be recognized as one of the few exceptions to the hearsay rule. In other words, what is depicted in the video or photograph must make both legal and common sense. Details
Adamawa's 12th April D-Day. By Usman Garba Santuraki From all possible intents, the fierce battle is going to be between the two formidable political parties- AC and the PDP each headed by known politicl gladiators, that the state is proud. These two politicians are the former Vice-President of Nigeria for good eight years during the reign of Chief Obasanjo as the President of this country Alh. Atiku Abubakar Turakin Adamawa and Prof. Jibrin Aminu a serving Senator. Details
Oshiomhole's Victory: Labour Should Build Radical Labour Party Now. By Kola Ibrahim On Thursday, 20th March, 2008 , the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Benin , after over nine months of legal tussle, gave an overwhelming victory to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). This victory is definitely a victory for the toiling and working masses of not only Edo State but of Nigeria who have been looking for a political alternative to the rotten capitalist politicians. Details
Power Sector Probe: Mr Transparency Exposed. By Musa Ilallah The House of Representatives committee on power and steel chaired by Hon. Ndudi Elumelu that is today investigating the ‘waste and pilferage’ of the sector’s funding amounting to more than $16billion during the eight years misrule of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Details
Speaker Bankole’s Ceremonial Tears. By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye For a young man whose almost every photograph is distinguished by a toothy smile that somehow reminds one of Ibrahim Babangida, when the wily General was that age, the image of Dimeji Bankole, Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, weeping profusely before the members of the Children’s Parliament who had visited him in his Abuja office, would have marked a refreshing change. But, sadly, our press photographers missed that bit, and we were merely served some drab tales about how Bankole was overcome by emotions, and had to let the tears flow freely from his ever twinkling eyes, after his younger colleague, the Speaker of the Children’s Parliament, Miss Chinyere Nwaneri, had lucidly articulated the harrowing ordeals Nigerian children regularly experienced, and which the authorities were yet to raise a finger to address. Details
Corruption in the Nigerian Health Sector: Time to Right the Wrongs. By Dr. Rabiatu Hadi Nigeria bears witness to some of the worst health-care statistics in the world and comes close to the bottom of virtually every development index. Most of other countries that are ranked higher than Nigeria have suffered significant internal conflict and have considerably lower per capita gross domestic products. Details
Dame Jonathan and the Gains of Tourism. By Marshall Ifeanyi It was on the instance of the representation of the First Lady, Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar’Adua, by the Wife of the Vice President, Her Excellency, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan at the festival. The First Lady was unavoidably absent due to the fact that she was attending to some other pressing state functions. She therefore, knowing how important the occasion meant, asked the 2nd Lady of the Federal Republic to stand in for her. Details
Vice President's Wife Easter Soup Kitchen. By Samson Makanju When therefore the Wife of the Vice President, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan chose Saturday, March 22, 2008 to celebrate the Easter with the poor and the less privileged in our society with a soup kitchen, it dawned on many that our leaders are indeed recognizing a simple but powerful truth that we need each other and we must care for one another in service. Truly, it is time to redress wrongs and repair damaged relationships. It is very clear that the collaboration between the church and the government is possible and necessary in leveraging the plight of the needy. Details
In all fairness Gowon, Danjuma, Murtala and a few others like Shuwa, Haruna, Martin Adamu, and Ejoor had shown exceptional leadership qualities in saving the North and uniting Nigeria, especially during the events of 1966 and the ensuing civil war. Obasanjo only came to sign the surrender after Adenkunle had already secured the southern sector of the warfront. Details
Tagged A Thief In Your Old Age. By Farouk Martins Aresa It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and there is nothing more precious than a good name. This is still true in Nigeria in spite of all these old men and women disgracing their family names when they should have been enjoying their retirement in glamorous and humanitarian pursuits. It is even more painful when the names of honest people, judge or police who decide to go after rogues are lumped together with victims to confuse us. Details
Between Early Marriage and Adolescent Girls in Northern Nigeria. By Nura Iro Ma’aji Generally, there is no clear specification concerning the age at which a girl should be married. However, at 18years of age, a girl should be married because it has attained the legal age of marriage, but the girl should be allowed to make such decision without any pressure. Details
Arewa's NNDC, Northern Governors & Accountability. By Bashir Ibrahim Hassan, ANIPR For the interest of the non Hausa speaking readers of this news paper, Arewa, within the Nigerian context, means the Northern part of Nigeria. For those who may not know, the New Nigerian Development Company (NNDC) is solely owned by the 19 Northern States of Nigeria. The company was established in the year 1946, out of the desire of the then Northern Regional Government to have a company that would lead in the economic development of the poor North- poor in terms of petroleum resources which the North never had. The company was incorporated as a limited liability company in the year 1966 with sufficient grant from the then Northern Government, under the visionary and farsighted leadership of late Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna). Details
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