Bad Journalism And The Return To Authoritanism In Nigeria. By Francis Adewale

Nigeria woke up this week to a return to an age old military rule tactic: closure of media house. In this case, the government closed a privately owned broadcasting house. A government supposedly elected by the people for the people. It is hard to defend Nigeria’s comatose profiteers masquerading as journalist in Nigeria. The news item that led to the closure smacks of perfidy and appear to have the hands of the enemies of this regime all over it. The present state of mainstream media in Nigeria is pathetic to say the least. What stops Channels Television from checking the story out with the regime, given it's well known access to the regime especially when Baba Gana Kingibe was still in government? We know how they lobbed easy question to the president and edited out the president coughing fits to camouflage the health of the president during their interview with the president sometimes ago. An interview arranged at the behest of Kingibe to burnish the image of the president when the going was good. Details

 

The Nigerian Television Authority: Simply Not Our Television. By  Aliyu A. Ammani

So, wallowing in nostalgia, I recollected our days as boys growing up in Kaduna. That was presumably the Golden Era of television in Kaduna. Those are the days of Radio Television Kaduna [RTK] through the Nigerian Television Kaduna [NTV]; to the first version of NTA Kaduna. Television programmes then, despite their relatively fewer hours of airtime and wide variety: Nigerian, American, English, and even Indian; had good local contents that reflects the socio-cultural norms and values of the environment. When it is time for religious events and festivities: Sallah, Babba and Karama; Christmas, Easter or even Children’s Day; the contents of local TV programmes always reflected that fully. Details

 

The Fallacy of 50% Derivation. By Nafata Bamaguje

Anyone who is aware of the stupendous amount of money that accrues to the Niger Delta in terms of derivation, NDDC and even help from oil companies cannot honestly assert that underdevelopment of the Delta is due to lack of funds. As pointed out in an earlier related article, Rivers state alone collects more allocation than all 6 North-east states together. Akwa Ibom which doesn't produce a drop of crude oil (thanks to unfair offshore allocation) comes second, with monthly allocation that exceeds all South-east states together, even though some of these South-east states (Abia, Imo) actually have oil. Details

 

Foreign Policy and President Yar’Adua’s Impending Cabinet Shake-Up. By Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko

Presently, the nation’s Foreign Affairs ministry has not shown any significant achievement apart from the shabby way Bakassi Peninsular was ceded to the Republic Cameroun in August this year. No wonder therefore, President Yar’Adua’s administration has been missing a number of golden opportunities to project, protect and defend our national interests globally be it at the United Nations, AU or even at the sub-regional level of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS).  Details

 

 

On Atiku, IBB, Bunkering And Violence In The Niger Delta. By Wale Odusote

I wager that when the segment of the Nigerian Diaspora interested in this issue finally convenes to review these allegations further, one of the many actions that will be considered will include persuading the United States to launch an extra-territorial investigation into whether Atiku and IBB are actually involved in some way in bunkering oil and procuring violence to do so. The United States government has national interest in the matter for two reasons: One, there are many Nigerians (including native Niger Deltans) that possess United States citizenship. And a crime committed by anyone against their families living in the aboriginal Niger Delta is, by extension, a crime of substantial impacts on a United States citizen. Details

 

Ohaneze's Committee For Another State In The Southeast And The Legacy Of States In Nigeria. By Nduka Uzukwu

If the new leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo deems it absolutely necessary to revisit an issue on which its organisation had already taken a stand, we implore it to take the route of justice. We may have to recall that prominent Igbo leaders including the former vice-president of Nigeria, Alex Ekwueme, had earlier appeared and made submissions before the Ohaneze Committee on state creation. Their submissions including that of the former vice-president was for a sixth state derived from the present Anambra and Imo states. The then forum of elected Governors of the five Southeast states like the Ohaneze Committee on state creation prescribed a creation from the present Anambra and Imo States for the new state. Details

 

Tears and Sorrow. By Tochukwu Ezukanma

Human behavior is driven by personal interests, and democratic politics is all about the resolution of competing and/or conflicting human interests. Here, there are conflicting needs between the elitist concern with urban esthetics, on the one hand, and the economic and personal survival of individuals, though poor, weak and voiceless, but still Nigerian citizens, on the other hand. Ordinarily, the issue would have been where to strike the delicate balance between these contending needs – allow people the opportunity to earn a living selling on the street, but regulate their activities to ensure the maintenance of public decorum, environmental sanitation and urban beauty.  But in their haughtiness and crass disdain for the poor, the Nigerian elite do not regard the concerns of the poor as worthy of consideration. Details

 

Ministry Of Niger Delta: Deconstructing Vexed Issues. By Ifeanyi Izeze

When President Umauru Yar’Adua recently announced the creation of a new Ministry of Niger Delta he must have expected seven gbozaas for the initiative. However, the reactions that have thus far greeted the decision had been as diverse as the issues in the hydra-headed Niger Delta question itself. The President believes that the Ministry of Niger Delta will serve as the primary vehicle for the delivery of his agenda for the rapid socio-economic development of the region. But that is just mere believe. Details

 

Nigeria's Vision 2020: Fact or Fantasy. By Prince Nwaokugha Ikeokwu

It is pertinent that Nigeria‘s roadmap of joining the league of leading nations is a topical issue that has dominated the polity, with stakeholders trying to initiate actions. From the look of things, it has become a Herculean task to differentiate between positive and negative initiatives in Nigeria as previous efforts to achieve targets have always been a conspiracy within a cartel to achieve a private goal with our collective patrimony. Details

 

Information Super Highway and Nigeria’s National Security Concerns. By Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko

My concern in this write up is to address this issue from the perspective of national policy on information and communication technology (ICT). Specifically, on that aspect that touches on the use and management of the nation’s very important ICT resource endowment – internet country-code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD). This is a two-letter long prefix assigned to all countries or dependent territories. For Nigeria it is: .ng.  The TLDs names are assigned by the internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which also operates the internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and the Domain Name System (DNS) root zone. Details

 

The Modest Success Story Of Nutl In Fct  [1]. By Emeka Oraetoka

Ninety percent of what should be done to make Nationwide Unity Transport Limited (NUTL), a model transport service for FCT rest with Federal Government of Nigeria. As a model capital in Africa , Government must as a matter of policy give necessary incentives to Nationwide Unity Transport Limited, to enable it perform optimally. Since the necessary infrastructures facilities for efficient transport operation is lacking in the Capital City incentives like the provision of Diesel to NUTL on a subsidized rate, for instance, will go a long way in making its operation efficient. Details

 

The Squandering Of Goodwill In Kano. By Saka Raji Audu

Reading the squandering of goodwill in Kano by Abba Mahmood, it once again reminds me of the ugly politics of our society, where no matter the efforts of a leader to enhance the general standards of living of the people, such leader is usually subjected to condemnation simply because some pockets of alms chair critics in an isolated world want to make others believe willy nilly that the best way to be radical was to choose the option of casting stones and aspersions. Details

 

That Almajirci Bill (I). By Mustapha Shehu

The Mallams tax the Almajiris to make daily returns of certain amounts to them, in the process, the Almajiris have to beg and/or do menial jobs. If they fail to make the returns, they are thoroughly beaten and tied to a tree trunk. In many cases, they run away, and afraid to return to their parents who will chastise them further for absconding, end up in cities as praise singers or riffraff or team up with other dangerous elements in society whose warped understanding of Islam is based on its total misunderstanding, to constitute a socially dangerous menace that gives rise to the emergence of quack clerics. Details

 

Women Today: The View of Malam Na-Bakin-Kogi (I) By Aliyu A. Ammani

Women and children are at the receiving end of all calamities, natural and manmade. Poverty is a calamity that is widespread in Nigeria today. In fact, experts believe that more than 70% of Nigerians are living below the poverty line. In the views of experts like Soludo, a large chunk of this 70% is found in the North. It goes without saying that women bear the brunt of poverty. Poverty has condemned a large number of people to living and breeding like animals. Examples abound in the squalor settlements around our densely populated towns and cities, of families of seven or more children, living in a one room apartment probably with 2 or more grown-up daughters. Details

 

Towards Better Opportunity for Nigerian Youths. By Rita Gonyok

Some agencies have indeed made some noticeable impact towards addressing the problems of youths’ unemployment but yet more and more need to be done. For instance, the Center for Youth Development Project a non –governmental body has continued to champion the cause and advancement of youth through the developmental and leadership training while some corporate organizations have also engaged the youths in worthwhile exercises and programmes that can prepare them to be self-reliant or become employable in competitive environment. A clear example is Shell Intensive Training programme, designed to develop the skill of young Nigeria graduates and technicians to prepare them for employment in the oil industry. Details

 

Kano and Prado Jeeps of insensitivity. By Kabiru Inuwa

For those who for one reason or the other may not have the true picture of the pathetic situation in the ancient Hausa kingdom; the deeply entrenched poverty conundrum bedevilling Kano has assume a frightening dimension courtesy of crass insensitivity of the political stakeholders who are completely disconnected from the reality of our pathetic existence thereby allowing the raging scourge to continue to take its tolls on the hapless citizens. Details

 

Kano Censorship And The Burden Of Moral Defence. By Muhammad A. Muhammad

It is quite surprising the way some of the writers chose to confront the board in a Kannywood-like manner. Even the hitherto respected among them inanely wrote many things that put their integrity to question. They sound and behave as worst as any lawless uneducated could. while the board is saying that all forms of obscenity should be stopped and that the books should conform with the culture and religion of the targeted audience in addition to the registration of the writers with the board among other things, these people are busy writing different sorts of bunkum in order to blackmail the board. All their arguments were based on subaudition, or more correctly, assumptions, and nothing more. Some of them were even proposing to take the matter up to their masters i.e. the international community in order to come to their aid, just as their Kannywood cohorts tried, as if the so called international community is that rotten. Details

 

Nigeria and the Thabo Mbeki Example. By Joshua Ocheja

This brings us to Nigeria as a case study. In Nigeria it would be tantamount to suicide for a councilor to resign from office take more of a president. Political office holders do not know where to draw the line in the interest of peace and tranquility. Take the senate for example, in the years gone, it’s been a scandalous affair and those involved would hold unto seats like it’s their birth right, until they are finally impeached out of office. This is wrong and throws more questions to answers. Details

 

The Decadence Of Islaamic Practices In Nigeria: A Matter Of Serious Concern. By Abubakar A. Muhammad

It was barely two centuries ago, in 1804 to be exact, when the Sokoto Jihaadists under the banner of authentic Islaam and the leadership of the revered Shaikh Uthmaan Bn Muhammad Bn Fodiyo and his major lieutenants Shaikh Abdullaah Bn Muhammad Bn Fodiyo and Muhammadu Bello Bn Uthmaan Bn Fodiyo established what was believed to be the most puritanistic and theocratic Islaamic state in the then West African region in the northern part area of what is today called Nigeria. Details

 

Talking About The Nigerian Revolution. By Kola Ibrahim

For some months now, a debate started by an intellectual section of the bourgeois intellectuals, has been raging about the possibility and necessity of a revolution in Nigeria that will change the political state of the country. This call was again echoed by some section of the opposition. The human right community has also joined the campaign for a Nigerian revolution. Details

 

Professor Nwosu’s Medicine After Death Book is Dishonest, Self-Serving and Unpatriotic. By Dr. Wumi Akintide

If Professor Nwosu has had the courage to issue a statement within hours of the annulment of the 1999 elections summarizing pretty much what he is now saying in his new book, most Nigerians and the world public opinion would have proclaimed him a hero. Waiting for 15 years to write what he is now saying is a disservice to or country and to the so-called intellectuals he represents in our country Details

 

I go kill myself O!’ A Desperado’s Technique for a Better Nigeria. By Zulfikar Aliyu Adamu

Unfortunately these days, any dog waiting patiently to eat the fattest bone in Nigeria will only starve to death – and it will be lucky not to be consumed by other starving dogs. I am not twisting a proverb. It’s a stark reflection of the realities on ground today. Details

 

A Nation of Sheep Will Beget a Government of Wolves."--Edward R. Murrow. By Francis Adewale

Here you have it Nigerians, who do you want to believe, the returned loot or your lying eyes! At first, I was stunned when I read the story but then I comforted myself with the hope that maybe, just maybe, someone will tell me that this is all in the spirit of April fool’s day. And this huge joke will pan out to be what it is, a joke! Details

 

Topic: Anatomy of 'Chicken Coop' Politics & Niger Delta Development? By Martin Obosso Abadani

Home folks, assuming Niger Delta region is a fenced "Chicken Coop" farm and 'Chicken Coop' means a 'poultry farm' the size of Niger Delta region. The poultry farm owners (PDP Presidency) control the chicken grains/feed containers (oil/gas revenues). The poultry farmer (Presidency) releases few scoops of grains/feed (monthly allocations) to chicken coop/poultry farm. Details

 

Ill-Health As A Pauperization Process. By  Abdullah Musa

The leader of the Yoruba, in real fact, the father of the modern Yoruba nation, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was said to have made his audience to cry at a campaign rally during the second republic, by saying that if they voted a Northerner into office of the President, he would pauperize them and turn them into beggars like his brethren whom they can see begging within their midst. He was also said to have condemned late Malam Aminu Kano as unsuitable for the Presidency; for how could a bankrupt person be elected to such an exalted office? Details

 

Shell Vs Xm Federal: Fresh Autopsy Of Atrocities By Foreign Oil Companies. By Ifeanyi Izeze

When the counsels to the detained leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah, recently claimed that they stumbled into a very strong evidence that Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) amongst others were responsible for arms proliferation in the Niger Delta, it was very clear that the defenders of the resource control activist were exhuming a forgotten scandal for an autopsy. Details

 

A Minimum Framework (Charter) For Sustainable Human Development For The Northern Governors. By Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko

For over 40 years since Nigeria attained its political independence from the British colonial authorities, the northern region comprising the present 19 States of the federation is yet to catch up developmentally, with its counterparts regions that make up the present day modern Nigeria. This piece is not going to discuss the reasons why this is so. Details

 

Defending Abacha: A Loss of Memory. By Hakeem Babalola

So General Sani Abacha, the one who ruled Nigerians with violent anger and intense dislike, did not loot the treasury after all. So General Sani Abacha, the one who held Nigerians in contempt, did serve Nigeria well. So General Sani Abacha, whom Transparency International labelled as the fourth corrupt leader in the world, was not corrupt after all. This simply means that Nigerians have been telling lies about the late General whom they often described as a thief; even a murderer and a rogue. Details

 

One Coward Professor Called Humphrey Nwosu. By Ndiameeh Babrik

Professor Humphrey Nwosu, chairman of the defunct NEC is making effort to tell whoever cares to listen that General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida did not annul the June 12 1993 election rather it was General Sani Abacha, Murtala Nyako, Aliyu Mohammed and other that annulled it.  To go straight to the point Babangida in one of the interviews he granted the press acknowledged that he only cancelled the election and that he did not annul it. Details

 

Murtala Nyako and the Issue of the Annulment of June 12, 1993 Election. By Suleiman Usman

It is quite funny and curious to learn after fifteen solid years, that some villians who stoutly stand and defend the annulment of the June 12, 1993 are today occupying political seats as champions of democracy. One of these villians, that nearly wreck the Nigeria democracy and even tried to plunged this country into choas was the incumbent Governor of Adamawa State Admiral Murtala Nyako. Details

 

No More Bullies, Only Looters. By Kabiru Inuwa Tsakuwa

Of the many benefits derivable from the ongoing investigations into the monumental scandals perpetrated in the last dispensation, the startling revelations which paint a gory picture of how deep the cankerworm of corruptions had eaten the fabrics of our national life stands out. At least, Nigerians have now understood clearly the reasons for their pathetic living conditions amidst huge national wealth. And have also fathomed completely, the barrier which has perpetually precluded them from enjoying a prosperous life full of vigour and satisfactions like their counter parts in other more fortunate climes. Details

 

A Windfall Mentality. By Tochukwu Ezukanma

Following the psychological and attitudinal ravages visited on this country by that evil union of oil wealth   and unscrupulous leaderships, the Nigerian populace is in a desperate need for re-orientation. Details

 

The South African Anti-Immigrant Riots:  Causes and Implications for Africa. By Priye S. Torulagha

There is more to the anti-immigrant riots in South Africa than meets the eye.  It is indeed symptomatic of much larger socio-political and economic problems that beset the country and the region.  Due to its industrialized and modernized capitalistic economy, the impression is often created that the country is an island of economic development and political stability in a continental sea of economic underdevelopment and political instability. Details

 

Kano: Developments in Reverse Gear! By Kabiru Inuwa Tsakuwa

The ancient Hausa kingdom of Kano with over nine million inhabitants according to the recent census figures was said to have been found more than one thousands (1000) years ago. And until recently, was the cynosure of all eyes in Nigeria and beyond. However, the enviable status has significantly begun to fade with the passage of time. The wheel of progress of the once prosperous and boisterous city has been bogged-down partly due to external forces and partly due to internal retrogressive tendencies. Details

 

Is Kano’s Population Urban-Tilted? By Kabiru Inuwa Tsakuwa

Mallam Auwal attempted to show the glaring injustice in the spreads and over-concentrations of social-amenities in the metropolis in flagrant violation of the oath of office to govern the state equally and without the least partiality. He wanted to know whether the below average performance of the present ANPP government of Kano and glaring corruptions, has justify the overwhelming trust reposed in it by the teeming populace or not. Details

 

Kano State Government Vs Kannywood: Telling It Like It Is. By Lawan Mariri

Ever since the unfortunate incidence of phonographic video clip scandal that rocked Hausa film industry and the subsequent suspension of film activities in the state, the spectacles we have been treated to on the handling of the crises leaves much to be desired by any cynical observer.  Watching the unfolding events, you would think that Hausa film-makers were Kano’s No. 1 problem, and which the state government is frantically working to stamp out.  Hausa film makers are labeled with all sorts of names from infidels to agents of the Jews and anti-Islamic, etc.  Details

 

Health Sector: After PATHS What Next? By  Segun Imohiosen

In the last six years or thereabout, precisely in September 2002, Partnership For Transforming Health Systems, PATHS, has been in the forefront of public health education and support systems with special interest on safe motherhood, reduction in child’s death and drug to the nation with a strong presence in the communities, more like the avant-garde to the grass root in some states of Nigeria. Precisely Jigawa, Benue, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Ekiti states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) respectively.  Details

 

Nigeria: In the Boat of Life. By D. Akinsanya Juliuson C. Dipl

Our leaders, heroes and heroines can rarely do wrong in our eyes. Once we have elevated them in our estimation, we become deeply reluctant to demote a demi-god. Sometimes, we can be similarly romantic about other things in our lives; friends, companions, family members, even our leaders. If we respect them ever, we respect them forever.  Details

 

So Much Trouble Just for a Little Change. By Ifedigbo Nze Sylva

There is always this annoying traffic hold up as you approach the NNPC mega filling station in Abuja. This hold up is particularly annoying to me because it is responsible in a way for my five minutes daily late arrival at work which my boss frowns at and as a youth corper eager to impress in order to place myself in a good position both to receive little weekend tips as reward for my dedication from my boss (a favour I ardently desire to augment the meager allowances) and to be possibly retained by the establishment after my service year, this means a lot to me. Details

 

Football, Nigeria & Vision 2020. By Andrews Solicitors

As is typical with Nigerians, that game would have had consequences of serious proportions both in relation to the working day; traffic; people’s general demeanour and planning.  In the event, the game as a spectacle did not let those sentiments down and will remain, for some considerable time, a game for which purists of football will remember for the foreseeable future even with the absence of John Mikel Obi, the one Nigerian who, for footballing reasons could have played a part in the game itself.  Details