Removing Petroleum Products Subsidy in Nigeria: To Be, or Not To Be? By Dr. Emmanuel Ojameruaye

The President has two options: Either remove the subsidy in one fell swoop in 2013 or 2014 or reduce it gradually and consistently beginning in 2013 until it is eliminated by mid 2014. The solution lies in working with organized labour and civil society to first convince them that it is the rich and well-connected (the ‘cabal”) who are benefiting most from the current subsidy regime and that it is in the best long-run interest of the country to remove the subsidy. All parties can then agree on the best option. Details

 

Corruption: The 37th State Of The Federation, By Theophilus Ilevbare

Nigerians clamour for scrapping or merger of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as a way of strengthening the commission in the anti-graft war, should have a rethink as such move will not only hamper the fight but exacerbate the present endemic corruption. I am not an advocate of multi-agency approach in tackling the gargantuan graft in various sectors but if this argument is to be won on such numbers, then Nigeria is behind when compared with other countries around the world. Details

 

What About Us? By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

I am not going to bore you with statistics about how the Nigerian public officers and civil servants take more than 70 per cent of Nigeria's revenues every year; probably, you know about that already. My intention is not to make you the Nigerian more discouraged about your country, for that would defeat the purpose of the passion I feel for this country. My desire or great expectation is to paint a scenario that is true of our situation, and which puts in clear relief the ineluctable judgment that our wrong actions and cowardly inactions would inevitably foist on Nigeria; then, I would make a call to action. Details

 

Nigeria Without Electoral Commissions. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

If the Nigerian people have had their electoral choices ignored repeatedly with impunity, it is because the electoral commissions and their staffers have always supplied the weapons for this coup. For a professor of criminology to be so brazenly involved in such a crime as robbing the people of their supposed right to choose the people they would like to lead them, it makes me wonder what sort of things he researched on about criminology. Details

 

As Was With Balarabe Musa, So It Should Be With Tanko Al-Makura. By Babayola M. Toungo

The recent threat by the Nassarawa State House of Assembly to impeach the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) reminds one of the maxim that “the more things change, the more they remain the same”.  Reading the story took me back to the second republic politics of old Kaduna State when a National Party of Nigeria (NPN) dominated House of Assembly fought a war of attrition with the Peoples Redemption (PRP) governor of the state.  The then NPN swept the country like a gale picking states at will particularly the northern states but could not win the mother lode – the old Kaduna state. Details

 

Hardest Workers Forsaken By God And Government. By Farouk Martins Aresa

There must be a role for God and Government to educate poor hard working folks. All of us cannot be lawyers, engineers or accountants. Based on individual skillful talent, our manual labor must be respected and channeled. There are children with gifted fingers or biceps like Kilwe but others with different talents to manage. Africans have all of these but we have failed miserably as managers of our own talents and resources. 69% of Nigerians on less than 300 naira daily are denied opportunities by children of looters.  Details

 

The Punch Newspaper and The Fragile Peace in Nigeria. By Muhammad Mahmud

Reading an interesting article in the online edition of the Punch newspaper, my attention was forcefully diverted to a popping news item which reads “Gunmen kill policemen, burn Churches in Kano”. I had to skip reading the article to click on the story for its serious implications. But after reading the report which the paper said was written by an “agency reporter”; I found it a totally misleading piece. The reported incidence, which the paper couldn’t wait to confirm, from the authorities, before going public, purportedly happened elsewhere as indicated by the paper in the body of the report. Details

 

Adieu,  Mama English! By Kabiru Tsakuwa

To the Baptist church Kano, where she served her god diligently, she was simply Deaconess Josephine Adetoun Shona. And to her family and friends, she was a sister, a mother and a grandmother. But to us-her numerous ex-students at the famous Rumfa College Kano; she was a mother, a tutor, a friend and dependable ally. Mama English as we fondly used to call her was a renowned educationist per excellence who was partly instrumental in many of us excelling in various fields today! Details

 

The Church, Religious Leaders and the Rest of Us. By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

The Nigerian church, most especially the religious leaders who oversee them are not quite known for being in the spotlight. It is therefore, surprising to have witnessed in the last couple of weeks and most recently, series of disturbing news emanating from both local and foreign tabloids on some Nigerian religious leaders and the church they control.

Not too long ago, a news published by the UK Daily Mail accused a reknowned Nigerian church owned by a multi-millionaire African preacher and believed to be the largest church in the world of exploiting their worshippers and receiving over £16 million in donations from them. The news went further by accusing the preacher of ‘cynical exploitation’ after its British branch received £16.7 million in donations from followers who were told that God would give them riches in return. Further investigation revealed that followers are ferried in double-decker shuttle buses to the church, handed slips inviting them to make debit card payments, and are even told obeying the ministry’s teachings will make them immune from illness. Details

 

The Subsidy Conundrum (Part 1). By Chido Onumah

Expectedly, Nigerians are heeding the president’s advice. We are gradually getting used to the situation. The government’s strategy this time, it appears, is to increase the price of petrol without linking it to subsidy, which in the president’s reasoning makes his argument about keeping subsidy 2013 valid. What the president fails to realize is that there can’t be any justification for an increase in the price of petrol. Certainly not with the insight Nigerians have about the rot in the oil and gas sector and those responsible. Details

 

Nigeria’s Power Privatization is an Economic Dead-End. By Kola Ibrahim

As Nigerian government-organized electricity privatization is being further enmeshed in chronic fraud and deceit, the labour movement especially must take a clear revolutionary stand against this corruption-ridden policy. This privatization if allowed, will lead to massive catastrophe for the nation’s economy and cause untold hardship for the working and poor people who are already living on the fringe of poverty. While government may seem to be having its ways for now in the power privatization madness, the impending catastrophe and misery it will ultimately bring will make the necessity for mass struggle against privatization necessary. Details

 

Deregulation, BPE And The PIB. By Okachikwu Dibia

It is now common knowledge that out of the 122 enterprises privatized by the BPE, about 65% of them are doing excellently well while the rest are facing one challenge or the other arising from policy environment. If this is a testimony of good performance by the BPE, why should the current PIB seek to delist NNPC from being reformed by the BPE? This is the question Nigerians are asking the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC. Why should the current PIB provide for the NNPC to reform itself and at the end still retain itself with a new name National Oil Company? Why should all the key decisions to be made in reforming the oil and gas sector be made by the Minister of Petroleum Resources? Is it reasonable for the Minister to be in-charge of the reformation of NNPC under her? Knowing full well that the Minister was a staff of Shell who has been against true reform of the sector, who said that there is no correlation between Shell’s interest and the current PIB? Again, can what will be in the interest of Shell be favourable to Nigerians? Details

 

There Is No Arugbo In Ghana. By Farouk Martins Aresa

A common saying in Nigeria while many of us were growing up was that you cannot find old people (arugbo) in Ghana. No matter their age all Ghanaians in Nigeria then were sharp and fresh looking and you can point to them from a distance. The ones you cannot tell apart are Nigerians that have left Ghana long before we were born. Many still bear Ghana names but so are some Nigerians with names outside their ethnic base. Details

 

Africa Billionaires Caught Dead Anywhere But. By Farouk Martins Aresa

The final dead beds of the African elites hoping for miracle cure is anywhere but Africa. Other countries are now competing to alleviate their Voodoo curse. Africa is the only place that could bring them back from the Death Valley. Medical Business is slipping away from our medicine men. They need to form a union and lodge complaints in each African state that any billionaire taken overseas for his final breath must not be allowed back into Africa. Details

 

Nigerian Rulers and Their Unabashed Filial Cannibalism. By Ahmed Garba

For the north to reel out of its squalor, there is definitely a need for major re-thinking, an inside-out revolution of mindset, a paradigm shift of sort.  A region and its people cannot develop when a handful of its population can ‘live high on the hog’ almost for eternity.  Witness how many traditional rulers, ‘first class’ Emirs and Chiefs especially, sit on their thrones for decades with nothing to show for it, while at the same time, they and their relatives live in luxury. Details

 

The Story of Yobe State University’s Meteoric Growth. By Alhaji Yusuf Alhaji

So what happened between 2007, when the university was suspended because of its substandard facilities and manpower, and 2011 when it emerged as one of the fastest growing universities in the country? Well, it was a simple yet momentous change that made all the difference.  Yobe State’s then deputy governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, who took over as governor upon the death of his former boss, invested time and efforts to giving life, character, vitality and international stature to a once decrepit, comatose institution that was stuck in prolonged infancy. Details

 

Federal Allocation and Social Development: The Case of Yobe State. By Muhammad Nasir Muhammad

Let’s look at Yobe State as a case study. Yobe State gets one of the lowest federal allocations in the country. Its monthly revenue of between N3 billion to N3.5 billion (which includes monthly federation account allocation and VAT payment) compares with the monthly revenue of some local government councils in the south. Details

 

Arewa Consultative Forum's Capital Punishment Claim: To Be or Not To Be? By Liberation Nigeria

In as much as capital pubishment may look unfashionable in our contemporary international system, in a country like Nigeria where anything goes and where it is always business as usual, the need to look into the issue of capital punishment as a one stop solution to the monster called corruption is imperative. The days of dillydallying with corrupt officials, missing or absence of prosecuting judges, plea bargaining and all pretentious acts which impedes or obliterates the true fight against corruption must be over. Details

 

One Paycheck Away From Global Disaster. By Farouk Martins Aresa

If you are one of those that lost everything you owned in a stormy flood, lost a job or hit by devastating sickness, and had money saved in banks to standup again; you are one lucky son of an angel. As a result of such loss depression can turn many of us into dung rolling beetle sinking abysmally. The downward trend can be arrested by friends and relatives in the community, if you have insurance in one of those countries we hear about but in Africa, we must begin again. Details

 

The North’s Wretched Of The Earth. By Babayola M. Toungo

Whenever you think northern Nigeria has reached its nadir in the area of insecurity, we touch a new low.  With the killing of Major General Mamman Shuwa, war time General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the first Division, the situation was pushed a notch lower.  The late Shuwa was the most invisible among his peers throughout his retirement years and many people believed he died a long time ago.  His low profile life after retirement belies his larger than life stature of the folklores surrounding him while we were growing up.   Shuwa was an enigma to many people but that was the way he chose to live his life.  May his soul rest in peace. Details

 

There is a Country. By Uche Nworah

Shuwa is being eulogized in the media as a war hero without any considerations for the feelings of the innocent women and children slaughtered as he invaded the Biafran towns of Nsukka and Ogoja as the Commander in charge of the First Division of the Nigeria Army.  Details

 

In Sympathy with Ribadu. By Chido Onumah

I sympathize with Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, ex-Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and more recently Chairman of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force (PRSTF). It is often said that once bitten twice shy. That best describes the situation Ribadu found himself a week ago during the submission of his committee’s report to the president. Details

 

Does Nigeria Need a Revenue Crisis?  By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

I am thinking about a situation when crude oil prices do not exceed 40 US dollars a barrel and the demand for Nigeria’s oil drops, partly because the US (a country that imports about 40 percent of Nigeria’s crude oil) cuts down significantly on imports of the product from Nigeria as from other exporters of crude oil to that country. I am thinking about the time when the game that our rulers engage in so blatantly with impunity, which is called Oil Bunkering, turns out to become more deadly than we are made to believe. I look forward to that situation when the revenue of Nigeria cannot support the constitutional allowances and remunerations that Nigeria’s rulers award themselves Details

 

Ikwerre and the Review of the Nigerian Constitution. By Okachikwu Dibia

In my book, The Challenge of Ikwerre Development in Nigeria, I did justice on how my people of Ikwerre can develop themselves within an unbrotherly federation called Nigeria. I insisted that Ikwerre, with over 1.5 million heads occupying four local government areas of Emohua, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre and Port Harcourt in Rivers State of Nigeria, are not Igbo and that they deserve their rights of self determination and political autonomy within the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Details

 

Cashless Society in Nigeria: A Game of Soccer without a Keeper! By Shafii Abdulhamid

Now the question is how secure is our databases and our cyberspace in general to embark on cashless economy? Do we really have the equipments and expertise in cyber forensic and network penetration testing to police and prevent our cashless society? Do we really have adequate laws to prosecute offenders when they are eventually caught? These are the questions that are still begging for answers. Details

 

Ethnic Baiting Crippled Anticorruption Momentum. By Farouk Martins Aresa

If we had to do it again, most people would not welcome the motive of Babangida that changed the war against indiscipline to family support encouraging and sanctioning the worst form of corruption engulfing every facet of life in the Country. Since the coming of Obasanjo when his anticorruption Czar, Ribadu claimed he and OBJ used one another to fight corruption, that organization has not found its balance again. Details

 

The Governor Aliyu Wamakko In Every Nigerian. By Max Gbanite

When I read a headline screamer on the front page of Tribune Newspaper, Friday October 26th 2012, that “Governor Wamakko beat PHCN employee” I went into a dancing - frenzy like a Pentecostal Pastor on a preaching crusade. After the celebration, I called Sokoto to speak to friends who could tell it as it was. Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed to learn from them that His Excellency, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, Governor of Sokoto state never flogged or beat up anyone. Although, I and many Nigerians would have loved that he actually did. Details

 

Notes on the Ribadu Committee Report. By Chido Onumah

For those who know the level of graft not only in our oil industry, but the gamut of the Jonathan administration, there is nothing surprising about the report of the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenues Special Task Force. What is surprising is that it took so long for the committee’s report to be made “public”. If anything, the report confirms what we already know: that our brand of democracy is nothing but plain-faced piracy.  Details

 

Taraba: The Heat In Suntai’s Absence- Journalists At It Again. By Babayola M. Toungo

Our journalists and political jobbers are at it again.  In 2010 when the late President Umaru ‘Yar Adua was on his dying bed in Saudi Arabia, the vultures began circling and so much unwanted acrimony was generated which we are yet to overcome as a nation.  Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, Taraba State governor had an accident in a plane he was flying himself and his condition is still unknown.  We all pray for his recovery soonest.  But the signals emanating from the state portends danger for all the citizens of the state and all those who love the state. Details

 

No Where Else To Run To. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Even within the Country, the numbers of places indigenes can live peacefully are getting smaller and many people have to leave their hometowns to live peacefully in another part of the Country where we must assimilate or face hostility. There are kidnapping for ransom, crime within families, amongst universities students. If people can’t live where they were born and cannot live in other parts of the Country; where else can they live?  Details

 

What Future for the Nigerian Ummah? By Yunusa Aliyu Babando

Not only that the Nigerian Ummah account for the poorest of the population (over 72% poverty incidence against the national average of 65%), they are also the most educationally disadvantaged in terms of educational enrollment, retention, examination performances, etc. For the Muslim women, of the 80% who are already poor, 71% cannot read and write and only about 3% have either attended college or university. In the Muslim North, over 10 million children of school age practically out or excluded from educational opportunities. It’s the same story with health care, employment and overall living standards. Details

 

Have Igbos Been Reintegrated Back Into Nigeria? By Max Siollun

Also, in past governments Igbos held the following key posts: Vice-President (Alex Ekwueme), Speaker of the House of Representatives (Jaja Wachuku and Edwin Ume-Ezeoke), Chief of General Staff (Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, as deputy to the military head of state), and Chairman of the Federal Civil Service (Professor Kesandu Ogan). ...Some might argue that the above examples apply only to the public sector. In the private sector, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory revealed that nearly 75% of the land in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, is owned by Igbos. Details

 

Made in Osogbo for Nigeria. By Dr. Anthony Akinola

As we look at the problems facing Nigeria and try to find best international practices and ideal types of solutions to offer to those in charge of affairs, one of the recurrent comments most touted is “this is Nigeria, that idea cannot work here!” Those who make such comments base it on two main elements: their knowledge of Nigeria because they live there (or their being on ground as they say in the Nigerian parlance) and the so-called peculiarity of Nigeria. It is a clear sense that people do not know where to start. Well, let us start from little things because little things matter and we can start from Osogbo. Details

 

The Ondo Election: Performance is the Key. By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

The year 2015 is around the corner with what had taken place in Ondo state still fresh in the minds of voters. The days of 'I wore no shoes' speech are over. A leader saddled with the responsibility to effect a change in his society must begin to perform else the vast majority of the people 'will not give a damn'. Details

 

Rotational Presidency Can Stabilise Nigeria – Memo To The National Assembly. By Dr. Anthony Akinola

Critics of rotational presidency talk of having the “best candidate” for the job, even when they know that such a so-called best candidate always comes from a dominant regional grouping.  There are “best candidates” in every region of the Nigerian federation, seeking an opportunity to bring their leadership qualities to bear on all of us.  The good thing about our society today, as opposed to those says of omniscient military rule, is that we have come to accept democracy as irreplaceable and individuals have the opportunity to demonstrate their preparedness for upward mobility through their performances at other tiers of political governance. Details

 

Is Yoruba Language In Trouble? By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

It is not uncommon these days to hear how friends or people we communicate with, either face-to-face, on social and mass media or even on telephone, have suddenly changed the face of our indigenous languages. The local language we speak has often been made to transform itself through the way we use them to communicate among ourselves. The underlying effect or result is that the major languages spoken in Nigeria today faces not totally an extinction, as many in academic and public discourses are wont to theorize or make us believe, but of course could lead to a fatal conflagration of who we have been and who we should be tomorrow. Details

 

The Allu Tragedy Pitfalls Of Flawed Vigilante Justice. By Andrew Obinna Onyearu

The sustained prevalence of increasing crimes of violence against innocent Nigerians compounded by poor protection by the law enforcement agencies; poor medical facilities for post-incident treatment and non-existent post-incident support all combine to imbue Nigerians with a high sense of anxiety.  This belief, heightened by limited crime detection encouragement, has made Nigerians less receptive to the traditional methods of crime solving such that many consider that the actual process lets more criminals escape than are penalized.  Many consider that the path to criminal justice is slow, riddled with corruption and, thus, entirely ineffectual in combating crime. Details

 

Nigeria Flooding Is A National Security Emergency; It Is Time Deploy the Army, Navy, Air Force Etc Written. By Paul I. Adujie Esq.

The proper thing for the president, the federal government and all strata of government in Nigeria to have done and should urgently undertake, is, a public demonstration of empathy and sympathy with millions of Nigerians who have suffered from these ongoing floods. Details

 

Horrendous Burial Ceremonies In Urhoboland. By Chief Bobson Gbinije

The Urhobo people are inexorably obsessed with matters concerning their customs and traditions. They hold on to their tradition with pathological imperativeness notwithstanding the hybrid of Western bastardies and civilizational interfacing(Religion and Education ). The Urhobos believe that death is a continuation of life in a different realm. Hence, the belief in Transcendentalism, Transmigration, Transmogrification of the Soul, Reincarnation and Ancestral Worship, etc. Details

 

To Those Who Cast Stones: Comments on the Northern Elder’s Forum on Nigeria at 52. By  Alh. Gambo Jimeta, CFR, GCON (former IGP/NSA)

For as Almighty God in His infinite Wisdom decided to place President Goodluck Jonathan on the mantle of leadership, he should also take courage in the fact that he has the authority to take bold action against any evil political manipulations that might pose a threat to the nation’s unity. President Jonathan should take this opportunity to break down all the ethnic and religious barriers and reunite Nigerians under one family with a commitment for peace and justice for all. We all have a collective responsibility to contribute to a better future for our children, our people and our Nation. Details

 

Time To Stop This Brinkmanship. By Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim

To be sure, we have not come close to being a Somalia yet but for a nation blessed with enormous human and natural resources, Nigeria has no business being at the lower rung of the ladder of development. In 2011, the UNDP Human Development Report ranked Nigeria 157th out of 187 countries, with lower life expectancy rate than the Republic of Benin. 20% of our newborn die before they attain the age of five. According to our own National Bureau of Statistics, one out of every four Nigerians is unemployed while 70% of the population, or 119 million Nigerians, live below the poverty line. Details

 

Diminishing Expectation –Nigerians As Victims Of A  Neglected Health Sector. By Andrew Obinna Onyearu

It is common understanding that Nigeria has some of the most disturbing health indices for a country of its supposed status in the world.  Tedious as this may seem, it is proper to examine some of these to place the situation in graphic context.  Numbering approximately 160 Million people, life expectancy at birth is at between 48 to 55 years for men and women respectively, bettered by countries like Chad, Malawi, Senegal, Guinea, Ghana and Bangladesh, all countries poorer than us.  Maternal mortality is at 545 per 100,000 births; Infant Mortality at 75 per 1,000 births; Crude Death Rate is 14 deaths per 1,000; 23% of children under 5 are underweight for their age; 41% of children are immunized against measles and the HIV prevalence rate is now approximately 4.1%. Those, largely, skirt around the mortal situations. Details

 

Oil Economy: Mutual Lessons for Nigeria And Ghana. By Suraj Oyewale

Much has been written in recent time on how Ghana has been getting it right on many fronts, notably politics and economy. The decision of United States President, Barack Obama, to choose the country as one of the very few African countries he visited in 2009 was another strong statement on the place of Ghana in this region. Even if some of us that have strong presence on the internet are not happy with the negative and stereotypical attitude of many Ghanaians to matters Nigeriana, we still must give it to this country that best fits the description “Nigeria’s twin”, if anything like that exists. Details

 

Nigerian Police in "New Afghanistan" By Zayyad I. Muhammad

This piece is a result of my recent visit to the ‘New Afghanistan’- Maiduguri-Damaturu axis of northern Nigeria. In the ‘New Afghanistan; the Nigeria police has found itself in a social order completely alien to its primary role- policing. The situation at that axis has clearly proven the age-long belief in the linkage between inept political leadership; dysfunctional economy and policing. Whenever the police of a nation is plagued by poor conditions of service, deplorable work environment, lack of incentives and motivation, corruption, low level of public confidence and serious lack of expertise in some specialized fields, the best option for officers when they find themselves on a tight-rope is- ‘hue, cry and run’. However, three things can save the Nigeria police. These are reform; reform; reform! Details

 

Patience Jonathan’s Health: Anything Hidden? By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

It is therefore, unfair to hear the presidency asking Nigerians to empathise with the First Lady when the same Nigerians are denied knowledge of what went wrong with the latter. Dr. Doyin Okupe’s assertion that they expect Nigerians not to be probing into the health problems of the First Lady but praying for her sparks off nothing but sheer ignorance of the workings of democratic openness. If according to Okupe, ‘Nigerians have gone through a lot of trauma in term of leadership and death and ill luck...’ and ‘have become so disenchanted with leadership as to believe that the leadership is inhuman’ why have they refused to make the illness of the First Lady open?  Details

 

When the Coffin Maker Dies. By Remi Medupin, Ph.D.

So, the point for emphasis, as if needed, is the unpredictability of the death phenomenon. It is not by age or even the severity of illness that determines the order of departure from this earth: there is just no order of any known and abiding logic; full stop. Thus, I may die before completing this write up; however, the fact that you are reading it now is proof of that not having happened. And you, dear reader, may slump now Details

 

2012 Hajj And The Mahram Crisis. By Abdulbasit Mukhtar

It would appear from the foregoing that our officials have not handled the situation well enough. And the comments emanating from our side are not helping matters. One gets the impression that NAHCON does not want to accept responsibility for the mistake, probably out of fear that their image would be sullied. Details

 

Leave Dame Patience Jonathan Alone. By Emmanuel Y. Kwache

Didn’t a donkey speak in the Bible? God can do all things. We should not provoke God, Almighty with our utterances and cursing. After all the country is lucky. All those earthquakes,

 

earth tremors, blood bath, genocide, hunger, hurricane Isaac, mass unemployment, extreme fundamentalism, gun totting and running by deranged citizens are not witnessed here. The country is blessed with so many natural resources. Instead for us to pray and harness our diverse differences, we cajole, blackmail, sabotage and betray our leaders. Details

 

A Review of the Petroleum Host Community Fund in the Revised Petroleum Industry Bill. By Dr. Emmanuel Ojameruaye

The implication of subsection 118(5) is the federal government is outsourcing the policing and protection of oil facilities to “host communities”.  What about the N6 billion contracts awarded to some former militants to do the same job? I think it is wrong to hold petroleum producing communities hostage or accountable for the protection of oil facilities through this PHCF. Details

 

What Manner Of Central Banking? By Okachikwu Dibia

Given the state of the Nigeria economy, is printing of N5000 note a priority? Why is the CBN not worried about the 23% unemployment rate in Nigeria? Will printing N5000 note assist Nigeria in reducing this rate? Will printing N5000 note increase productivity in Nigeria’s manufacturing and agricultural sectors? Nigeria’s inflation rate is 12.8% and official interest rate is 12%. How will the printing of N5000 note help to reduce these rates? Details

 

What Manner Of Central Banking? By Okachikwu Dibia

In Nigeria we have a habit of unilaterally raising the prices of what we sell to higher currency denominations, without increase in quantity. That is why the idea of coins in Nigeria will not work as long as there are higher denominations. For example, today in Nigeria, the 50k, N1 and N2 coins have long been neglected because sellers quickly raised the prices of their goods to match with the new higher denominations Obasanjo introduced (whether this made him a bad or good Economist, I do not know). Details

 

In Defence of President Jonathan? By Chido Onumah

It is understandable though if the shoeless and homeless mass of our people who voted for him last year expect a lot from him. That is the least they should expect from a man who claimed he was once like them, but whose presidency has become a nightmare for majority of Nigerians. Having said that, I must also note that I seriously want to “wean” myself from criticizing President Jonathan and his administration and I shall explain why. Details

 

Currency Restructuring: The Bitter Honey. By Ayodeji Odusote

Like he was birthed in waters of controversies, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, continues to attract public criticisms in recent times with many of his statements, policies and ideas. Formerly adjudged the undisputed hero of the masses with what many tagged “Hurricane Sanusi” that purportedly cleansed the Nigeria Banking industry of its rots....Unfortunately, the lack of verifiable evidences on how the introduction of high currency denominations causes inflation waters down this public opinion. Despite the fact that many notable Nigerians, including a former Head of State and President, had expressed fears in this regard, they have refused to provide the analysis that depicts that prices rise because of the introduction of a high currency bill. It is easy to draw from historical memory archives. They are strictly not verifiable as people have differing narrations about the happenstance.Details

 

Contemporary Press And The Undoing Of Nigerian Nation. By Auwal Shehu

Nigerian press hardly judge an issue independent of its impact to the polity without smuggling a tribal interpretation either because of the author or the office such an author operates. Painfully again is the recent gang up to belittle some parts of the country especially the North. Nigerians hailed from the northern region were called names and ridiculed because of their religious background or simply because they are from same area were daring Military coupe’ heads came from. Details

 

The Take-Off Of The Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund: Things To Watch Out For. By Shafii Ndanusa

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is scheduled to kick off operations with One (1) billion US Dollars in the month of October, 2012. This amount is almost insignificant when compared to the Six Hundred and Twenty Seven (627) billion US Dollar total asset base of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The cumulative total asset under management of all the global SWFs as at today is in excess of Five (5) trillion US Dollars. Nigeria, being a major producer of crude oil in the world accounting for just One billion US Dollars of this sum certainly can do better than this. Details

 

Flaunting Personal Paradise Within Lion’s Dens. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Old decent neighborhoods have turned into slums. Nigerians are forced to improvise most of the time since they refuse to leave their only home and their only Country to the whims and caprices between all these vagabonds. There are modest areas and houses serviced by ethnic militia, neighborhood watch, after resignation to “NEPA” PHC for those not so rich. But instead of lynching their leaders that steal them blind in broad daylight, some poor people are lynched for stealing food and petty materials. Details

 

A Farewell To Sense And Sensibility. By Nosa James-Igbinadolor

President Goodluck Jonathan’s government is not a totalitarian Stalinist dictatorship with an elaborate cult of leadership around the President or his family, nor is the President a benevolent guide for the nation without whom, the transformation to a better future cannot occur. On the contrary, the President has displayed at all times meekness and a contriteness of spirit in his dealings with Nigerians and non-Nigerians. Details

 

The Nigerian Challenge and the Future of the Minorities. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD

Today, we live in a society that celebrates money instead of morality, a society whose sense of right and wrong is warped. Our children are confused, seeing repeatedly as society honours the evidently crooked, blatantly corrupt, incorrigibly heartless, and self-confessed gangsters. But it is also people within such a society that can work to change the situation. Angels cannot come to bring about the desired change, man must. Details

 

Tinubu’s Bow To Buhari – Political Suicide Or Joke. By Farouk Martins Aresa

There are enough fears out in the political field that any alliance between Southwest and the North cannot be good for other Southerners. Though, each block in the South has allied with the North in the past, except Southwest. As a result, everything from monkey wrench to rocket is thrown in the path of Tinubu and Buhari. Both of them are desperadoes. The bow reveals they want and love power by any means possible. Details

 

The Jonathan We Know – A response to the antics of Reuben Abati. By Dr. Olusegun Fakoya These are indeed precarious times for Reuben Abati. And like any sinking man, desperate to hold on to a fast dwindling job, Dr Abati has resorted to desperate measures. The flurry of articles from him in recent times speaks volumes about his desperation. For a man who hid under the “umblellah” (sorry, umbrella) of social activism for many years, the opportunity to partake in the sweetness of power has been a mesmerizing experience which he is in no hurry to willingly relinquish. Dr Abati desperation is such that he has even resorted to abusing and insulting Nigerians. Details

 

IBB: A Statesman, His legacies, and Unity of Nigeria. By Max Gbanite

Although IBB stands a little less than six feet tall, however, in the midst of taller men he stands out magnificently taller than all. At 71 years, the man does not walk with a swagger stick; he left that behind years ago when he left the military. His gaiety is that of a simple father and grandfather who wishes his family, friends, and country well. Details

 

Who Will Speak for Farouk Lawan? By Professor David A. Ehoro

I do not for a second believe that Farouk Lawan is a saint - even if he has not been found guilty of any crime. But I am miffed at how stories on the issue from the police appear slanted, often presenting him as a man broken by guilt:   he was said to have broken down when confronted with the video recording of his encounter with Otedola (that video has not yet surfaced despite Lawan’s challenge for such to be made public). Some papers quoted police sources as saying they allowed Lawan to go on the lesser hajj only because he broke down in tears. Details

 

Whither Nigerian Education? By Mohammed Dahiru Aminu

I am stunned as a result of the type of persons that our universities help to advance as graduates in Nigeria. The other day I was looking at the degree certificate of my friend who graduated from one of the private universities in Nigeria. He studied political science, and graduated, to quote the certificate, in “2009 AD.” I was a little bit uncomfortable with the “AD” in the certificate because I couldn’t see the reason why it had to be printed. But my discomfort came to a cessation when my friend told me not to worry that the “AD” on his certificate meant no harm, that it denoted “Adamawa” because he hailed from Adamawa state. 2009 AD is therefore equal to 2009 ADAMAWA. Is it possible for one to study political science for four years in the university without coming across “AD” and/or its meaning? If a person cannot stand up for the printed content of his certificate, does he deserve the degree he claims to have? Details

 

My Hopelessness and Worries Grow. By A.S.M. Jimoh

Hope is a feeling that better things lie ahead. It is hope that gives the encouragement to continue to try even in the face of difficulty. But there is limit to hope. I cannot continue to hope where there is none. Such is an illusion. The hopelessness that pervades Nigeria does not call for hope. It calls for pessimism and, for me, that is just the correct emotion. Details

 

Tackling Rumour Mongering. By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

This writer is angry not because there is a problem with Nigeria (apologies to Chinua Achebe), not because we now have a clueless and myopic administration, which according to one of its aides, is the most cursed in the world, not because Boko Haram has now spread its tentacles towards Kogi state, threatening to go East, South and Westwards and not because the country is drifting towards anarchy and disintegration. This writer's anger is far from these, for anyone who lives in Nigeria must be ready to expect the un-expectable (apologies to Nigerians who now have to carefully look up the skies for a landing plane). Details

 

Col. Dasuki (rtd) and The Prevailing Security Situation. By Babayola M. Toungo

With Col. Sambo as the NSA, we believe he will first of all bring to an end this inter-agency rivalry and pursue the real culprits and bring them to court for all Nigerians to see.  The likes of Munguno and Tishaku may be of immense help to the NSA’s cause of bringing to an end the mayhem and destructions in the country given their past participation in curbing the madness.  After all, Lamorde was once kicked out of the EFCC, but recognising his knowledge of the Commission, he was brought back to head the place. Details

 

Crying Over Poor Capital Budget Implementation. By Rahaman Onike

While watching with keen interest the unfolding events in the nation’s political scene ahead of September deadline given by the House to commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan, it is hoped the government will rise up to implement the capital budget with 75 per cent performance rating to avert the possible impeachment and for prosperity to judge Mr. President as a performer. Details

 

 

Abandoned Properties Still Unresolved. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Oh well, well! Dokunbo may and may not reflect the thinking around President Ebele as the traditional ally of the North afraid of being displaced by his Yoruba cousins. It tells you how fast people forget their benevolent ascension to power. There is nothing to fear about the Yoruba but the fear of your own shadows. If Tinubu’s ally scared you to death, Yoruba consider him a devil, but that may be exactly what you need; fire for fire! Details

 

First Lady Malady. By Rahaman Onike

Despite the fact that the idea of First lady-ism is a constitutional aberration, it has long been adapted and introduced into the nation’s political system by most successive administrations. There is no doubt that the personality and the style of Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of the current Nigerian President have generated renewed interest in the position of First Lady both in the governance process and the polity generally. Details

 

Immorality And The Nigerian Society. By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

The Western culture we all struggle to imbibe has gotten us nowhere, but rather, continues to destroy the social fabric of our society. The Nigerian youths rather than being productive are either on facebook, tweeting their lives away or even watching football or season films which earns them nothing but stagnation. There is no harm in having fun, but when we do it with so much addiction, forgetting we have a role to play for ourselves and the society as a whole, it then becomes a huge problem. Details

 

Nigeria Rising Domestic Debt Profile. By Onike Rahaman

As Nigeria security challenges persist unabated, the Federal Government also seems helpless in tackling the nation’s rising domestic debts profile.  As the debt continues to rise at unprecedented rate, and even more drastically in the recent time, the nation’s image is becoming dented. It is regretted that the Federal Government had failed woefully in efforts to reduce the nation’s debt profile. Details

 

Enough of this Hypocrisy. By Tochukwu Ezukanma

The Nigerian power elite, through their underpaid and unappreciated band of ill-motivated and lethargic men and women (Nigerian Police Force), are fighting crime in Nigeria. But they need to awaken to the incontrovertible reality that there is really no crime to fight in the Nigerian society. What they perceive as the crimes of the Nigerian society are only reflections of the criminality of the Nigerian power elite. Details

 

Issues in Dangote’s Graduate Drivers Scheme. By Suraj Oyewale

On the surface, one will be tempted to crash the roof on the Group for such a ‘demeaning’ offer to Nigeria’s legion of respected graduates. But a deeper look at the issues surrounding the idea is necessary no matter the opinion one forms on it, ab initio; after all, lack of analytical review of policies and events, are at the roots of the pervasive bolekaja criticism that has made public debate an exercise in waste of time and resources in Nigeria. Details

 

Types Of Capitalism. By Okachikwu Dibia

Overtime, people have construed capitalism as profiteering and specifically accepted that it simply means whatever they can do to gain financial advantage over and above others in society. This has led to various means of profiteering or capitalizing or what I call types of capitalism especially in Third World countries where extreme instinct to cheat for survival is prevalent. Details

 

Between Otedola and Lawan: Re-enacting the David and Goliath Epic? By Ibrahim K Usman, PhD

My suspicion is that for Otedola, his quest for his version of events to prevail goes beyond the need to rubbish the report of the fuel subsidy committee. My impression is that Otedola is fighting for his commercial life because unless he can convince the general public that he is not just a liar and blackmailer but a victim of a corrupt investigative committee, he will be held in so much opprobrium that the government will be forced to scale down, if not stop altogether, the numerous supports extended to his businesses.  It is thought that much of Otedola’s business empire depends on government patronage. For Lawan, if he fails to convince the general public that his version of events is the truth and nothing but the truth, there is the possibility of a jail term and the unravelling of a highly promising political career. Details

 

A Question of Honour for INEC and NBA. By Dr. Anthony A. Kila

The honour of two apparently distinct and different bodies INEC and the NBA has been clearly challenged by two of their stakeholders and for everybody’s sake these two bodies cannot afford to pretend that the challenge was not thrown. INEC is the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria’s apex electoral regulator; INEC would like to and does define itself as the country’s main agent for democracy. That is nonsense, at most it is one of the agents, but let us leave such clarifications for another day. Details

 

Cassava Republic Can Be Creative. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Nigeria has made it a necessity to promote cassava as part of bread instead of pure refined wheat imported into the Country. You would expect that since we now have abundance of cassava as one of the major producers, Nigerians would gladly embrace President Ebele for promoting it. Ignorance has crept into the acceptance of cassava in bread. Well, it could also be the fear of unknown. Details

 

The Perils of Taxation Without Credibility. By Tochukwu Ezukanma

A major problem of Nigeria is the oil money. Oil money is extraordinary in that it does not come from any national effort, toil or sweat. It comes not from any agricultural, manufacturing, scientific or technological endeavor. It results not from our resourcefulness, innovation or ingenuity. It is a windfall; it, literally, drops from above. Details

 

Nigerian Democracy Cannot Capture Abuja Or Africa. By Farouk Martins Aresa

After sending Niger Delta warriors to overseas training, Fulani warriors would ask for their turn without dreaming of any grand project that would employ them when they come back. Yet, we ignore other Deltans or Nigerians more productive. The projects we dream about is not the types that employ those we trained but to employ those trained   by other countries as CUSO (Canadian Unemployed Shipped Overseas). Sorry O Canada! Details

 

Ciroma A Sacred Cow Mocking Us – To Hell. By Farouk Martins Aresa

No matter what you think about how well the President is functioning, there are people working day and night to give him a bad name so that they can hang him like a dog.  If their motive is to throw him out of office before his time, they have Pastor Bakare to predict it. The irony is that the intelligence unit is more willing to interrogate a preacher on the pulpit that predicted OBJ was going to die in 1999, than confront who inspired it. Details

 

Wanted: Left of Centre Party. By  Ado Umar Mohammed

I must admit that it is with trepidation that I view the recent lull in activities regarding the move by leaders of the opposition parties in Nigeria to merge into a formidable party that will be capable of giving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a run for its money during the 2015 general elections. It is my well considered view that there is no time to waste at all. The new party, in my opinion, will need at least two years to prepare thoroughly for the elections. The divergent leaders and followers that will fuse into one party also require sufficient time to understand each other to enable them work harmoniously during the elections. Details

 

That Rise in Electricity Tariffs. By Abubakar Jimoh

The increase in tariff if not accompanied with increase in power generation and distribution will ultimately force the existing industries that spend almost 50% of their incomes on fueling generators out of business and scare away prospective investors. The irregular power supply has limited income generating opportunities of the industrial sector and resulted in increased cost of doing business. In spite of the abundant hydro resources and natural gas reserves in the country which has assumed prominence for fuelling electricity generation globally, the state of electricity supply continues to pose major policy challenge to successive governments. Details

 

Promote Hausa Great Culture To Forge Peace. By Farouk Martins Aresa

As long as Hausa in Northern Nigeria are suppressed by those that take pride in calling themselves strangers (Alhaji) or Pilgrim at home and abroad, the rest of Nigeria will continue to suffer the consequences in terms of violence that are imbedded in those religions and cultures. Religious violence must stop and the subjugated Hausa must be empowered for peace to prevail at their doorstep. Details

 

Revolt Of Nigerian Businessmen - Otedola Taku. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Enough is enough. The House of Thieves may have gone too far this time and angered some businessmen. Real businessmen do not cry in Nigeria, they get even. More of them will come out if Otedola succeeds. Many have been grumbling for a while that most of their cashistics go into bribing politicians. The most annoying part of it is that they play dirty, arrogant, spiteful and ungrateful. Baboon dey work monkey dey chop. Details

 

How to Put Top to Corruption in Nigeria. By Dr. Abayomi Ferreira

The ruling parties do not have any policy in any area of governance. It is not entirely the fault of the politicians and those in government. The people did not vote for policies and programmes. They voted for an Ijaw man, a non-Northerner, a man from the village of Jonathan! And they celebrated that! Obasanjo celebrated it! Mrs. Jonathan celebrated it! This very basic issue is worth debating and we must learn to bring into government those people and political parties that have policies and programmes for the development and the good of the people of this country. Details

 

Jonathan, Gusau, Azazi and Boko Haram Sponsors. By Obinna Akukwe

President Goodluck Jonathan had once again showed that he can bite and this time around the victim was Andrew Azazi, his erstwhile National Security Adviser. President Jonathan understands Southerners so well that when he slowly delivers a  killer punch, his victim will know that 'Warsaw saw war'. However, he is yet to master the secret of striking at Northerners. Details

 

Robbing UNILAG To Pay Abiola. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Names sell. Right now, our focus should be on doers, not just honors. Politicians honor one another for nothing and the calibers of their recipients have been discredited and diluted, anyway. Indeed, most Nigerians or old UNILAG students hardly know how their own get national honors but when you play a fast game on them, they feel insulted. It’s not a coincidence that many students do not know Herbert McCauley National Legacy. Details

 

Building Informal Leadership For Nigeria’s Good (Part one). By Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD

President Yar’Adua’s government ignored voices of caution like mine and only a few months after, a violent military raid on the camps of the group that is called “Boko Haram” was authorized by President Yar’Adua; the leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf was killed in an extra-judicial manner. The government did not order the arrest and prosecution of police officers that killed Mr. Yusuf in police custody, no human rights lawyers went to court to seek justice against extra-judicial murder of a Nigerian, no matter how vile he may be, and the group was highly provoked even as no man came to their rescue. Later that year, President Yar’Adua was taken out of Nigeria never to return to his office. Details

 

Murder Incorporated. By Chido Onumah

We have become inured to death. Life is cheap in Nigeria, and death, even of the most gruesome kind, has become “one of those things” we have to live with. Just the other day, an electricity pole collapsed in Ibadan, Oyo State, and killed seven people. Nigerians have died in their hundreds scooping kerosene and fuel from petrol tankers and damaged pipelines. Every day, scores of Nigerians die in bomb blasts and road accidents. Women die in their thousands every year from child birth. For millions of Nigerian children “the future is a child-size coffin because they lack access to basic vaccine”. Details

 

Right On The Mark, Senator Mark. By Jonathan Ishaku

This is not the first time Senator Mark would rock the Northern elders’ comfort zone. On December 5, 2011, a peace conference was organized at Arewa House, Kaduna, by the Arewa Consultative Forum ostensibly to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the North. In attendance were the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal and many other personages from the North. And, of course, Senate President Senator David Mark, was there.  Trust your typical Northern leaders, the conference soon turned into another spectacle for grandstanding by speakers after speaker, in spite of the admonition by the conference chairman, General Yakubu Gowon, to “tell ourselves the bitter truth.” Details

 

Blessing Effiong and the Question Of an Unjust Sentence. By Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

This writer is of the opinion that whoever had sentenced Blessing in 2008 did not consider a lot of things before handing her a four year sentence, one which was very harsh and unfortunate. Even the amendment embarked upon by the Lagos State government in 2011 on the same Criminal Code Law carried a six months sentence or a fine of N90, 000 and for that reason question the rationale behind the four year sentence given to Blessing. Details

 

My Hero Pastor is a False Prophet (Part 1). By Obinna Akukwe

It has been a confusing time for many Nigerian Christians over the genuineness of the crowd claiming to be Bishops, Pastors, Apostles, Primates, Prophets, Rev Fathers and all who claim to have been called by God to minister spiritual food to his people. The mainstream Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal churches have always viewed with suspicion the activities of religious leaders like Olumba Olumba Obu (who claimed to be the holy spirit); Eddy Nawgu (who was butchered by Bakassi boys); Rev King (currently in a Nigerian prison for setting a female church member ablaze) ;  Prophet T.B. Joshua  was initially blacklisted as a false prophet since 2001 by the leadership of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) under Bishop Mike Okonkwo  and  Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. Details

 

As the Subsidy Thieves Shift the Fight to the Courts… By Abu King Shulwa, PhD

To appreciate the harm done to the country by the subsidy thieves, we just have to imagine how the cost of living has shot up since January this year when the pump price of premium petroleum products was increased to 97p per litre from N65. This increase not only inflicted untold hardship on Nigerians but resistance to the measure and the police reaction to it led to the death of some Nigerians in Lagos. Had the subsidy thieves out of sheer greed and wickedness not ganged up against the common people, perhaps the price of fuel would be far less than N65 per litre today and the cost of living would have been such that the pay package of workers and others would be sufficient for their social reproduction. Details

 

Arab/Asian Elections: What Can Nigeria Learn? By A.S.M Jimoh

The much-awaited Egypt election result was announced and the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Muhammed Morsi won. Before the Egyptians, Tunisia planned and conducted, in a space of nine months, a highly successful election in a similar charged atmosphere. The winners and losers of the elections are not however the topic of discussion here.  It is the successes of these elections in spite of the near absence of law and order. For my country Nigeria that has been in the business of election for a very long time and yet not getting it right, I think a lot can be learned from these elections. Details

 

Talentism, Youth  Unemployment And National Development. By Okachikwu Dibia

How can we have a talent-focused education in a talent-driven economy? It starts with the free educational system that must be able to discover the talents in children, train them along their talents and convert the talents into industries. This way, every work-profession is peopled with persons of like-talents. They may be capitalists, but not the mindless profiteers; they may be socialists but not idle Marxists who want to enjoy the sweat of others by depending on the state; they may be communists but not extreme advocates for an economic system that is too utopian and capable of re-instating the Hobbesian state of nature led by totalitarian workers. Details