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Between Majority Tyranny, Democratic Space and PDP’s Zoning. By Jideofor Adibe Two, the decision by Goodluck Jonathan to contest for the presidency in 2011 despite being a signatory and beneficiary of the zoning arrangement, simultaneously benefits and undermines our democracy. It benefits our democracy in the sense that arguments for, and against his running, has contributed immensely to the vibrancy of our marketplace of political ideas – a key bedrock of any democracy. Details
Between Dr Aliyu Tilde And Folake From America Let The Debate Continue. By Ndiame Ba-Brik However it is not true that OBJ created the Middle-Belt Region. It was the outcry by the far North or Hausas that lead to the re-mergence of the middle-Belt in 1999, shortly after OBJ made some key appoints in his government....Therefore Dr Tilde, it was the reaction of the Hausas particularly that lead to re-emergence of the Middle-Belt of Nigeria. OBJ had his sins agreed, but brought people who touched the lives of Nigerians one way or the other. Be they from the North of from the South. Good people like Dr. Oby Ezekwesilsi, Dr. Ngozi Aweala, Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El-Rufai and even Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso are not Yoruba people. If we have to be very objective can we compare the OBJ appointments to his successor in terms of national spread? Since the Northern minorities are not true Northerners, they surely have to look for their own identity. Details
How Do We Trust This Jega Now? By Ifeanyi Izeze Contrary to Prof Jega’s chant that: “In my history, I am not a blackmailer, I have never blackmailed anybody and I certainly will not descend to the level of blackmailing people whom I respect. I'm also not an alarmist and I am certainly not a frivolous person, I make no frivolous statements and assertions,” his pronouncements are fast making it difficult for most Nigerians to believe him. It all started when he told the Senate that the timetable ushered in by the amendment of the Electoral Act was unrealistic considering the enormous job needed to be done to guaranty credible free and fair elections. But it could become realistic if President Jonathan can provide between N55- N72 billion, just to prepare fresh voters’ register. He as uaual introduced a caveat that if he doesn’t get the money and on time too, Nigerians should be ready to make do with 10 percent credible election using a reworked Maurice Iwu’s implausible voters’ register. Details
A Country of Undocumented Citizens. By Victor Olapojoye Did I hear someone ask? Which useless country is that? Well, it is with great shame and despair that I announce that Nigeria is one of those countries that are inhabited by undocumented citizens. Yes, Nigeria is a country of undocumented citizens. This starts from birth. Recently the Nigeria Population Commission which is the government agency responsible for registering birth, announced that their budget has been cut for the last six years, as such, they cannot perform their functions including registering births. A nation that does not register its births cannot provide for its people. Period! Details
Marching on the Citadels of Power. By Tochukwu Ezukanma Considering the situation of the country: pervading, desperate poverty; moral and ethical collapse; corruption and the depredation of the national wealth by a piratical elite; dysfunctional and collapsing institutions; etc.; there should not have been any celebration of the independence this year. But, as the commemorative festivity had become a national custom that we are so accustomed to, and cannot be wean from, it ought to have been restrained by a nagging question: what is wrong with Nigeria? And our “elected” officials, like corrupt and inefficient managing director and senior officials of a corporation confronted by irate stockholders, should have been nervously and apologetically, explaining, admitting errors and pleading for forgiveness and promising better behavior in future. Details
Lying With Statistics – Nigeria As The ‘Third Fastest Growing Economy’. By Jideofor Adibe One of the crucial questions that beggar answer is: how has the supposed growth in the economy impacted on job creation, the education sector, pervasive feeling of insecurity and the poverty line? Growth figures are meaningless to ordinary Nigerians if they cannot feel some changes in the quality of their life. And please do not tell them that the benefits will percolate to them in the ‘long run’ because as the British economist John Maynard Keynes would put it, in the long run we are all dead. Details
As I conclude, let me remind you of what some of you did in June 2006. You killed the plan to extend the tenure of offices of the president and governors. You did it with boldness. It cost some of you your party’s ticket. But that was because the cabals and godfathers were still in control of the selection process of candidates for elective offices. Would you again subject yourselves and future aspirants to elective offices in the land to the tyranny of godfathers who have held this country in their wicked grip for so long? Would you surrender the trophy you have won for our democracy? Can you explain why President Jonathan assented to the 2010 Electoral bill passed by you all against calls from some displeased godfathers, who are now exploiting the opportunity offered them by Professor Jega’s naiveté (or shall I say mischief)? Details
Shekarau: As Court Hammers Business Eye, Desert Herald Apologises. By Saka Raji Audu
The day was
11th October 2010, a High Court sitting in Kano awarded Governor
Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardauna of Kano the sum of
Orji Kalu’s Braggadocio. By Jideofor Adibe Kalu’s antecedents are rooted in contradictions. Stories of how he came by his wealth and his rise to national prominence are laced with sublime lines of heroism and ‘cowboyism’. On the source of his wealth, for instance, story had it that while studying political science at the University of Maiduguri in the late 1970s, OUK got involved in the ‘Ali Must Go’ student riots of 1978, and was suspended from the university along with other student leaders. However while many of the student leaders chose to drag the university authorities to court, OUK sneaked into trading with N5, 000, which he got from his mother. From this small beginning, it was said, he moved into furniture trading and other businesses, such that when his suspension was eventually lifted, he was no longer interested in being a student. Details
I appeal to you legislators to throw out the amendments proposed by President Jonathan the same way you threw out the tenure elongation proposal. We have wasted about a month since Jega’s belated request for time extensions. His commission (INEC) has not even acquired the DCC machines yet, in spite of your approval of funds more than two months ago. We have enough time to plan, organize, and conduct the 2011 elections. Details
2011 Presidency: Ribadu Vs Jonathan. By Zents Kunle Sowunmi Current President Goodluck Jonathan, will be seen as a child of the system, and will have the sympathy of the South- South in the election, but not the North, or the West, the East will know a win for Jonathan is to prolong Igbo Presidency for another 16 years, and may look for a Northern candidate hopefully, Buhari to given them at short at Vice Presidency and Presidency in the next 8 years. ...Nigerians will enjoy robust debates between a PHD holder and a lawyer in asking for your votes, the presidency will be between PDP and Action Congress Party, between Jonathan and Ribadu, and it will be the beginning of an end the era of those that stood between Nigeria and good politics since 1960.Details
Challenges and Prospects of Nigeria’s Development at 50. By Yima Sen Nigeria’s low points have included a high crime rate in the same diaspora like various forms of fraud and drug trade, a faulty electoral process, and corruption. Another source of Nigeria’s bad image has been communal conflicts, militancy in the Niger Delta, religious riots and the Christmas 2009 incident of a Nigerian arrested for allegedly attempting to bomb an American airline. The country’s main weakness, however seems to be its underperformance despite bounteous resources, leading to the appellation of “resource curse” particularly for hydrocarbons, but which could also apply to other resources. Details
Niger Delta Is Not The Enemy But The Leverage To Success. By Farouk Martins Aresa Politicians want to use militants from Niger Delta as security test for Presidency. It is sheer hypocrisy for some old spent leaders that should be cooling heads in sanatorium after mismanaging Nigeria for about 38 years during which everything that could go wrong went haywire, to rise up in gangs and exploit the deadly act of October first in Abuja. These people, as if they have some monopoly on security, have never found the solution to Jos riots in the past, that is waiting to happen again tomorrow. Oh, without them, Nigeria will burst in flames? It did many times on their watch. Fortunately, they neither represent North nor South. Details
Nigeria, the North, And How It Will All End. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, Ph.D. No zone or region of Nigeria presently has a stable and strong leadership to guarantee a convenient split-up of the nation. I therefore, believe that should Nigeria be forced to break up by the provocations of elders such as Adamu Ciroma, who have lost self-control, the consequences of further break-ups shall make every mile a country in the aftermath. The North (of which I am a member) has no right to decide who should run for an elective office or not. Details
2011: The Darkening Clouds and A Silver Lining. By Iliyasu Gadu Although the Federal Government has issued a strongly worded riposte to the doomsday scenario painted in a recent article by former American Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell on the 2011 elections, we need not entertain any illusions that the coming days and months will be anything but uncertain for Nigeria. While it may be politically correct to denounce the underlying assumptions of Ambassador Campbell’s take on the forthcoming elections, it will be difficult however to totally ignore the Ambassador’s conclusions on the likely consequences for Nigeria should the elections on which so much is hinged, fail. If it is anything to go by, the Independence Day Bomb blasts that took several lives brought home to us the reality Details
In conclusion, the grievances of the people of the Niger Delta are genuine. However, the criminality of the Niger Delta terrorists is reprehensible and should be condemned by all rational minds. The denial of the President that MEND is a terrorist organisation, and his attempts to defend them even when they corrected him to confirm their responsibility is immoral, illegal, and has shown us Jonathan in his true colours! Details
Uncovering Nigeria at Fifty. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, Ph.D. But why are Nigerians not ready for change? Some claim that it is lack of “education”. Although this is a plausible reason to advance, and maybe I have myself given such in the past, I am not sure anymore. My problem with this excuse is that the “education” has not been defined to me. Is it the formal western education that Nigerians need in order to realize they are hungry? I have interacted with many well-educated Nigerians (so defined in terms of certified western education). Details
Vision 2020, Global Economic Meltdown And Nigerias Fifty Years Anniversary. By Shafiu Ibrahim Abdullahi While in more advance countries anniversary moments like this one are periods to show case economic success story, the story is different here in Nigeria. Apart from the share we received from the global crisis, we have our own home grown economic problems. Even our Goldman Sachs, with a track record of over seventy years of investment banking, was devastated by the global economic crisis, forced to convert into Retail bank, and go begging for money from the US economic Stimulus package. If not of recent, Goldman Sachs was partially nationalized and forced to rethink its business model. Details
The Battle of the Generals: Myths, Manipulations and 2011. By Ogwu Paul Okwuchukwu Nigeria is an interesting country. We seem to have defiled all political permutations and theories.2011 election will not only mark our water shed but also will be an interesting political manoeuvres and battle of supremacy among some of the individuals who have played a prominent role in the making and unmaking of the Nigerian state. Details
Poverty No Be Craze O Na Dynamite. By Farouk Martins Aresa There are so many warnings of the coming revolution in Nigeria but the oppressors remained unmoved. They will not desist from their evil deprivation of their countrymen. If heaven is going to fall, they reason, it will fall on all of us. In their case, they may even escape to those countries where their vaults are intact. Well, tolerance for Nigerians is at its lowest in any country these days. We need more revolutionary parties at home. Details
Nigeria is 96 Years Old. By Muhammad Ajah In Nigeria for instance, we must recognize the day Nigeria was born rather than the day the British men claim to have left governance to us – the so-called independence. Nigeria was born in 1914 and simple mathematics shows that our country is 96 years old and not 50. By this age, we should rejoice that our octogenarian nation is, though not hale and hearty, is alive and hopeful. In our tradition, though soiled completely or stained by the so-called modern civilization, a man who attains the age of between eighty and hundred should be honoured by the community and should not be allowed to suffer in the remaining part of his life. If such persons die, their burial becomes a general responsibility if the immediate family is not well-to-do. Details
The (Aborted) Meeting of the Igbo Political Forum. By Jideofor Adibe The recent blocking of a planned meeting of the Igbo Political Forum (IPF), which was to take place at the Banquet Hall of Hotel Concorde, Owerri, on Monday September 27, 2010, has generated headlines, editorials and condemnations by various groups. According to the story, the organisers had paid N100, 000 to use the hall two weeks before the scheduled event. However, just a few days to the date, riot police men ‘invaded’ the hotel, claiming they had ‘orders from above’ not to allow the event to take place. The organisers tried to move the event to a nearby All Seasons hotel only to be rebuffed by the hotel’s managers, who allegedly also claimed they were acting on ‘orders from above’. Details
Nigeria at 50 – Confusion, Tears, Sorrow and Blood. By Dr. Olusegun Fakoya While the nation was still enthralled by the gory details of security inertia and paralysis occasioned by the state of lawlessness in Abia state, Nigerians were again woken to another rude shock. This time, it was the twin bombing at Abuja in the course of the controversial celebration marking our 50th Independence Anniversary, tagged Nigeria’s Golden Jubilee Anniversary. The aftermath of this ill-fated ceremony would reverberate for some time to come. Details
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