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Day In Life Of A Child Beggar. By Najib Kazaure Often denigrated and referred to as "Ticking Timebombs" , "Society's Blight" , or " The Problem of the North" , a child beggar "Almajiri" as they are often called in Northern Nigeria, is society's most neglected pariah. At the lowest level of the social hierarchy, the Almajiri begs for food and works menial tasks to make ends meet. Bowl in hand and hunger in their eyes, door to door they go, singing their tune until they get lucky for some crumbs or leftovers. Details
African Oil Producers Cannot Think Beyond Crude Oil. By Farouk Martins Aresa Why do Africans wait until it is too late for our rescue? Right now most African oil producing countries are still fighting about which regions produce more oil. Areas that are not producing oil are exploring other regions for oil. Many of us lost our thinking faculties in hedonism, greed and are spread all over the world beyond value to Africa. So, Not Thinking Beyond Crude Oil. Details
On the Kannywood/Nollywood Dichotomy and Related Issues. By Muhsin Ibrahim In a nutshell, my lecture on this dichotomy exposed to me the fact that Nollywood is amazingly popular in Africa and beyond, while Kannywood still, shockingly, however, lingers in obscurity. I am aware that some select films have been shown in the US and Europe, but the glory of Nollywood is matchless to Kannywood’s. A number of factors are responsible for this, but the chief ones include language (English vs. Hausa); the northerners standoffish, closed attitude towards Kannywood films, and lack of collaboration between our academes and the filmmakers. As I write this, only a single university in the whole Northern Nigeria offers Film Studies as a course. Academics that show interest to study film or a related discipline are still discouraged or denied any chance to do so. Details ****** Osinbajo Is Wrong; Private Sector Cannot Develop The Nigerian Economy. By Chinedu Bosah The only thing the power companies are legendary for is issuance of outrageous bills despite supplying darkness. Worrisome is the fact that the Distribution Electricity Companies have become notorious for rejecting part of the electricity generated in order to make huge profit, an act that has further thrown the communities into more darkness. Details
Nigeria Needs A New Constitution. By Ibrahim M. Attahir It is, therefore, misleading and mischievous to state that the 1999 Constitution was made by the military. In fact, the making of 1979 Constitution is far more democratic than the GEJ National Conference of 2014 which was wholly constituted by the government with no single elected member. When the 1979 Constitution was made, the country was under a military government. Details
Federal Character Suffocated Infrastructure. By Farouk Martins Aresa Nigeria is about the size of California. While the whole of United States has 100 senators Nigeria has 109. The reason is to make sure every area has a voice in the senate even if we have to pay more senators than United States. Nigeria has a population of about 180 million compare to U.S 300 million. There is no need to compare incomes with the richest country, the United States; but the emoluments of our politicians in Nigeria surpass that of any country in the world. Details
Neither Restructuring nor Unity… but Good Governance can save Nigeria. By Okachikwu Dibia The Nigerian commoners who argue for restructuring cite examples of some factors which have caused imbalances and tensions in the polity by querying some critical issues about the country. They ask the following questions which bear their source of rage against the so-called united Nigeria. Why should the South-East geo-political zone (out of the six zones) have five states while the rest zones have six states each? Why is it that the former Northern region would always have more population census figures than the Western, Eastern and Mid-Western regions combined? Details
Inclusivity In Policy Formulation And Budgeting. By Otive Igbuzor, PhD Meanwhile, the richest Nigerian man will take 42 years to spend all his wealth at one million per day (page 4). The report notes that the amount of money that the richest Nigerian man can earn annually from his wealth is sufficient to lift 2 million people out of poverty for one year. Similarly, Nigerian lawmakers are one of the best paid in the world: the average annual salary is $118,000 equivalent to 63 times the country’s per capita (in 2013)(page 5). So, we have “the world’s highest paid lawmakers preside over some of its poorest people.” (page 9). Details
Rail Lines to Daura and Jibia: Why I am Confused. By Prof. Abdussamad Umar Jibia Buhari is incorruptible and he did as much as he could as a military leader to force all Nigerians to be like him through his WAI programme, his many decrees and imprisonment of corrupt politicians. But that is where he got it wrong, I have always told them. It is impossible for all Nigerians, nay majority of Nigerians to become Buharis. Details
Got The Country You Wanted In Pieces. By Farouk Martins Aresa Nigeria must separate one way or the other before we realize that the evil that plague us is more within and less from outside. When those that champion our hatred for one another are the same people that benefit from it, we have to separate and get a breathing space to realize reality. It has got to that stage where Nigeria can no longer hold, anyone in the way of a moving train would be consumed. The fury and speed of a moving train can’t be controlled or stopped. Details
FGN-ASUU Face-off: Matters Arising. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba and Etumudon Ndidi Asien It is a well-known fact that the Federal and State governments in Nigeria have been having running battles with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The running battles have led to incessant strikes and closure of public universities in Nigeria. It is also well-known that the problem has almost defied logic and reason, remaining intractable even as there are always “pending agreements” between ASUU and the Federal Government, which ASUU claims are broken by the latter. Details
This paper shall not discuss the technicalities or the procedures of the development of a bond; such as documentation, roles of rating agencies, registration and application with relevant Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), and choosing agents, marketers and brokers, as well as wealth managers, etc., who may be considered best suited to reach targeted objectives and investors/lenders. Details
Amendment Of The 1999 Nigerian Constitution And The Concerns Of Civil Society. By Dr. Otive Igbuzor The political elite has opted for a piecemeal approach to amending the constitution. Recently, the Senate and House of Representatives started a process to amend 33 areas in the 1999 constitution. Some of the proposed amendments such as institution of local government autonomy is commendable and civil society organisations are committed to continuing advocacy to ensure that the Houses of Assembly endorse those sections. Details
Exploiting Mass Action During A Democratic Anti-Corruption Campaign. By Abel B.S. Gaiya In summary, we are faced with a dual problem. The first is that the president is unable to incite mass action to propel him through the political obstacles currently faced. The second is that the key anti-corruption agencies meant to spearhead enforcement also do not have satisfactory public credibility and public support to also overcome these same political obstacles. Details
Observations On Biafra And Predictions For The Near Future. By Abel B.S. Gaiya If, on the other hand, an Igbo presidency is not secured in 2019, this reinforces the pro-Biafran narrative of Igbo marginalization and gives impetus for greater Igbo subscription to Biafranism. Therefore, no matter the outcome, I predict that the pro-Biafran agitation would likely accelerate dramatically after the 2019 presidential elections. Details
IPOB Arewa & Odua Must Trade In World’s Largest Mumu Market. By Farouk Martins Aresa Arewa, IPOB and Odua are used to distract us from wrestling market from foreigners! Years ago one would think that Nigeria would be unknown in St. Louis Missouri as world’s biggest market until one guy found out this African. Surprised that some indigenes would leave that market: he saw Nigeria as a great place to make money as long as you could hold your nose. The corruption stunk to high heavens but too good to quit while making stupendous profit: except as Nigerian. Details
In Defence Of The Rule Of Law. By Bashir Abba Sharif However, due to weakling institutions, impunity, by and among the political elite, dominates, in large proportion, the conduct of public officers in our governments. Rule of law, for instance, that other countries take seriously, is daily abused to the detriment of development without appropriate or at best selective sanction. Consequently, endemic corruption and nepotism find the opportunity to gradually erode whatever consensus the nation was built on. Details
Marginalization: Who Is Actually Marginalized? By Musa Ghude The cry of marginalization is all over the place and the propensity is on the high rise with no consideration to the other side of the fact. To my understanding, the real concept of clamoring for marginalization is location specific. While in some quarters, the cry of marginalization is skewed towards religious differences, some is narrowed in aligned to tribal base and others are regional divide. Details
My Thoughts on Restructuring. By Bashir Abba Sharif Captioned as above, the advertorial, laced with unpardonable distortions, contradictions and fallacies, that appeared in the Daily Trust issue of 6th July, 2017 and posted on the social media by Attahiru Baffarawa was, for many reasons, a sad reading to the extent that one would not have bothered to pen this piece but for the necessity to forestall any tendency to derail our democracy by systematically corrupting and subverting the faith and aspirations of the vulnerable in particular, who admire, trust and wholeheartedly support President Muhammadu Buhari proudly. Details
Polygamy and High Divorce Rates in Northern Nigeria. By Dr. Bala Mohammed Liman The current situation in Nigeria is that many Muslim marriages are not registered and there are no marriage contracts. Also, the man does not have to get his wife’s permission nor have to inform the authorities of his desire to take a second wife, which differs in many other Muslim majority countries where there are certain requirements before a man can get married or take another wife. Details
Port Harcourt: From Cultism to Flood. By Okachikwu Dibia Just yesterday six of my close friends living in PH, the capital city of Rivers State, called me and told me that our dear and only PH has been submerged in flood and that they are busy pumping water out of their houses. I was sober. How can development take place in an environment sacked by cultism and now flooded and washed away by the rains? Details
Biafra Is Not The Only Nation Crying Out. By Farouk Martins Aresa Biafra is not the only one crying out for space, respect, equity and fair play in this Market where familiarity breed contempt. Delta market, Arewa market and Odua market, also want a form of confederation. Even conjoined twins require skillful and delicate separations. Unfortunately we lack ingenious surgeons to perform this life threatening operation. Our country is sick but the institutions required to balance separation of powers are weak, motivated and united by greed. Details
Evans Can Still Beat Kidnapping Charges in Court. By Farouk Martins Aresa Kidnappers kill directly politicians murder us indirectly! It is easier for kidnappers, politicians, pastors and imams to enter the kingdom of God like a camel would through the tiny hole of a needle than those of you doubting if the notorious kidnappers can or cannot get justice in court of law. Some of you have forgotten that in a democracy such as ours, the rule of law must hold. A man must be presumed innocent until he is proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. Details
Short-Sightedness in Separatist Agitation. By Dr. Anthony Akinola When Nigeria fought a civil war between 1967 and 1970, the rest of the world was not looking at our nation from the prism of future greatness. On the other hand, the young African nation was still perceived as the burden of the British, the erstwhile colonial masters, who played a major role in ensuring that Nigeria remained one nation. Were there to be another senseless war today, there is bound to be a U-turn. External influences will conspire to partition Nigeria into very small and, somehow, subdued nations! Details
Please Let Biafra Go. By Farouk Martins Aresa Did Arewa and Odua Youths give quit notice to Biafra? It was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe that cried out loud when the children of Nkrumah were kicked out of Nigeria with their Ghana Must Go bags. The guilt of seeing the children of Nkrumah pack even after Kofi Busia had kicked Nigerians out of Ghana, was too much to bear. If Azikiwe were alive, after fighting to keep Nigeria One, after deserting Ojukwu before Ojukwu deserted the War himself, Azikiwe would weep. Biafra stop! Details
A close review of the fallouts of that infamous ‘Kaduna Declaration’, which elicited the deluge of responses by the different groups across the country, by way of social media commentaries and direct personal discussions with some individuals in the North, reveals two broad categories of reactions. Details
The World Bank is determined to achieve its twin goals of "ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity - and ensuring that future generations share in broader prosperity". These goals elude Africa due to the usual politics that surrounds policy implementation in the region. The major challenges facing African countries are corruption and rent-seeking by the ruling class. Details
Biafra: To Leave or Not to Leave. By Farouk Martins Aresa It is no longer if Biafrans will leave but when and if they will survive without all of the old Eastern Region. There are there three types of agitations ringing from the former Eastern part of Nigerians: the 1) Igbo 2) Biafrans and 3) Ibo. Not all Igbo are Biafrans and some Igbo resent the label of Ibo while others far from the hinterland embrace it. Indeed many Igbo think this is a conspiracy after the War to divide and conquer them ideologically. In other words, there is no difference between the Igbo; Igbo is Igbo. ... Nigeria has no choice but to listen to the Igbo that wants out of Nigeria. Their voices cannot be ignored. Their indirect referendum, like Brexit, of shutting down trade and commerce, their livelihood, did not deprive the rest of the country. Nevertheless, it is an affirmation that Igbo local areas support Biafra. We know that in United Kingdom, some areas would want to be part of European Union and some areas want to be independent of the Union. Yet British Government at the center would wants all areas out. Details
Why Defend a Pseudo-Democracy? By Tochukwu Ezukanma In their grasping avarice and remorseless misappropriation of public funds, many state governments refuse to pay their employees for months, sometimes, for up to 6 months. And those that demand their salaries are severely punished. For example, a primary school headmistress, Mrs. Maryleen Ezichi, who, like her colleagues, had not been paid for six months appealed to the wife of the Abia State governor, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, to intercede on their behalf to get paid some of their backlog salaries. Unbelievably, she was punished: demoted and transferred to a rural outpost. Details
Anatomy OF Nigeria's Sickly Democracy. By Rahaman Olalekan In a situation whereby workers receive twenty five percent fraction of their salaries on monthly basis as subvention from government , it is predictive that the efficiency and productivity of such workforce will be dwindled and greatly diminished. It appears most of the state governors lack the proper understanding of roles of the public servants in policy formulation, policy review, policy interpretation,policy implementation, project execution and evaluation otherwise the workers could have been treated well. Details
Nigeria’s Housing Deficit – We Must Act Now, lest the “Angry gods” Be Enraged. By Chima Christian Nigeria, with a population of about 180 million people, is presently challenged with a threatening national housing deficit. In 1991, the deficit was 7 million units. It has since increased from 7 million units in 1991 to 14 million units in 2010 and currently 17 million units. By 2050, exactly 33 years from today, popular estimates say Nigeria will be the third most populous nation, with a projected population of about 390 million people. If we do not, as a matter of priority, build well ventilated and affordable houses for our teeming population in this era of global warming, let Gov. Yari and his followers be assured that the gods were just test running their anger in Type C Meningitis. Details
Review Of Inequality In Nigeria: Exploring The Drivers. Reviewer Dr. Otive Igbuzor The report indicates that poverty in Nigeria is very high and that the country is among the 30 most unequal countries in the world (page 9). As at 2010, more than 112 million people were living in poverty. According to the 2015 Human Development report, Nigeria had the highest number of people living in multi-dimensional poverty (88.4 million) in the world, followed by Pakistan (83 million) and Ethiopia (78.9 million) (Page 16). The report shows that the gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria is very wide. According to World Bank data, in 2009, the poorest half of the population held only 22 percent of national income (page 9). Details |