Our Nomadic President and His Misplaced Priorities. By Zulfikar Aliyu Adamu
[SAUDI ARABIA]
(GAMJI)
“Uncle Sege” was probably hovering somewhere in the clouds over the Atlantic ocean some few weeks ago when an episode of ‘Strange New World- The Debate’ was aired on BBC World. Nevertheless, I am inclined to presume that his refurbished presidential jet was equipped with digital gadgets including a TV set and therefore, there is the slim likelihood that he squirmed in his cozy seat when one of the debaters made reference to how certain poor countries beg for Debt Relief and International Aid but end up squandering money on grandiose stadiums. Details
(GAMJI)
After the arrangements made to get Obasanjo out of prison and make him President of Nigeria, his fellow Yorubas sat and exclusively planned an agenda that would exterminate the existence of the northerners in Nigeria and prepare the dominance of the Yoruba group as a ruling tribe in Nigeria for at least half a century or more. Details
Stranded by Choice: As the Talakawa Strike…By Abdullahi Bego
[IRAN]
(GAMJI)
For right or wrong many people in Nigeria, not just from the north, believe that the Abacha family is victim of a vendetta for the role of Gen. Abacha in the making of Nigeria’s chequered history. There is no exaggeration here. People who have been known to have committed even more heinous offences both of criminal and financial nature have been allowed to walk free in the society today. Details
Sale of Our Mint-A Threat to the World. By Umaru Dembo, mni
(GAMJI)
In short this will mean first that the international community will have problem with our money as it will dwindle to nothing because there will be paper production, with that whatever business one makes in Nigeria it will boil to nothing. It also means the democracy that Euro – Americans so cherish will be marred to the extent that all moneys for campaigns will be just printed and election would have no meaning at all. Details
The Peace in Nyame's Haven. By Ahmed Tafida Jalingo
(GAMJI)
Taraba today is governed in a typical military junta style, by a section of the state executive, who walk the streets in the Italian mafia Dons manners, favour those who they so see in their myopic views, casting those who earn their wrath in the crudest of forms, most of the times so much so petty that even distance uncles of critics are not spared, any time a citizen voice out any thing contrary to the whims of the ruling Mafioso his far away uncle may end up being dismissed from work, denied fertilizer or have some nieces send home from school. Details
Six Months and a Nation's wishes. By Abdulrazaque Bello Barkindo
(GAMJI)
Since the House of Representatives' attempt to clip Obasanjo's wings with a "resign or face impeachment" ultimatum the nation has been loosing sleep. President Obasanjo is beginning to sober up, even as he refuses to admit it. The series of consultations slated for the week is evidence that the old man is in need of direction. Details
Bafarawa for What? By Abdullahi Bayero
(GAMJI)
The key to turning around Nigeria’s economic fortunes, thereby removing it from amongst the list of the 20 poorest nations in the world starts from a complete understanding by its leaders of the economic challenges confronting the country. From this perfect understanding as the starting point, it will be clearly evident to all that a fairly slow and incremental growth of the economy will not only take eternity to reverse the decline in our per capita income over the past 25 to 30 years but will, more importantly, only serve to further widen the gap between us and the rest of the global economy. Details
(GAMJI)
Dear Fellow Nigerian in the Diaspora, if you are seriously concerned about the suffering of other not so fortunate Nigerians, please spend some valuable time on the analysis of the problems and of the values governing our world. Thereafter seek understanding about the purpose of your life. This intellectual and spiritual engagement will definitely put you on a different plane of comprehending higher moral and ethical values. Details
Obasanjo, The Legislators and The Common Man. By Mike Ikhariale
(GAMJI)
The battle ahead for Nigerians is how to transform our nation from the present pitiable state of decay to one, which we should all be proud of. Our legislators are not bothered that we are rated as one of the poorest nations of the world inspite of our resources; they are not bothered that our schools and hospitals are in shambles; they are not bothered that our roads are impassable. Details
Beauty Contest: celebration or degradation? By Abdulsalam Olatubosun Ajetunmobi
(GAMJI)
Well, to my understanding, there has been little or no opposition from mainstream women activists who are usually concerned with issues like rape and sexual abuse. The Christian organisations too are less outspoken in their opposition. Muslims however have consistently and vehemently voiced their opposition to the event, arguing that it is 'degrading to women' and 'obscene' in a country as poor as Nigeria where most people do not have enough to eat. Details
Future of Nigeria Is Glorious. By Akin Falegan
(GAMJI)
Nigeria has come a long way we still have a distance to go in reaching sanity in our body politics. But we will definitely get there, slowly but surely. I refuse to expect or ascribe too much to Obasanjo’s government. As far as I am concerned, his is a transitional government, in the process of getting to the start of good government. Details
The Dismal Corruption-Profile of Nigeria: How Low Could the Nation Get? By Victor E. Dike
(GAMJI)
There are many problems facing Nigeria today, but the issue of the upsurge of corruption is troubling. Corruption is found in democratic and dictatorial politics; feudal, capitalist and socialist economies. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures are equally bedeviled by corruption. And corrupt practices are not new; ancient civilizations have traces of widespread ‘illegality and corruption.’ Since corruption is not new, and since it is a global phenomenon, some people would argue that corruption is not peculiar to Nigeria. However, corruption is pandemic in Nigeria - the leaders as well as the followers are corrupt. Details
Floods and Fires Proclaim the Nature of Our Time. By Stephen Lampe
The furious floods and fiery infernos and similar disasters proclaim the nature of our times. Something new is happening to our world. The very special nature of our times lies in the convergence of some spiritual and physical phenomena. First, Divine Power has been anchored on earth. Moreover, an unusual “comet” bearing primordial spiritual power is approaching the earth and sending forth its radiation. Details
On Recapturing the Lost Glory of Northern Nigeria: Bafarawa's Example. By Dr. Paul D. Ocheje
(GAMJI)
Attahiru Bafarawa’s example is as unique as accountability comes in Nigeria. His example becomes even more luminous when it is placed alongside the performance of his next-door neighbour, Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State. Aliero it was, the reader might recall, who wanted to spend over $17 million dollars of public funds earlier this year to acquire a private jet. Details
Methods of Tackling Corruption in Nigeria. By Dr. Baba J. Adamu
(GAMJI)
My
recent visit to
Obasanjo, Shagari and Buhari. By Abubakar Jika
(GAMJI WRITER)
Northern Governors and Northerners surrounding Obasanjo who are telling him not to take Buhari serious are deceiving him. I am more objective. I had neither served Obasanjo nor Buhari. In fact I never met Buhari but I met Obasanjo at his Otta Farm during one of his Africa Leadership Dialogue. He was then a common citizen like me. I was in the university teaching and he was a chicken farmer. In those days we thought we have solutions to all Nigeria's problems. Details
The Dismal Corruption-Profile of Nigeria: How Low Could the Nation Get? By Victor E. Dike
(GAMJI)
News of corrupt activities keeps oozing out of Nigeria and the National Assembly, but nobody has been prosecuted. When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo became the civilian president in May 29, 1999, he promised to tackle corruption head-on. He noted, and rightly too, that "No society can achieve its full potential if it allows corruption to become the full-blown cancer it has in Nigeria." But no sooner had the civilian administration of Chief Obasanjo settled down for business than the first corruption scandal rocked the nation in this forth republic. Details
Witch hunt in America. By Michael O. Folorunso
(GAMJI)
The US justice Department is now operating what seems more like what the Nazis would have done. The Justice Department is now being driven by fear rather than sound policies. This department is now pursuing a race based immigration policy which will see to it that most Africans who were favored by the Immigration Acts of 1986 will be quietly rounded up on flimsy charges and deported. Details
[TEHRAN, IRAN]
(GAMJI)
But the practical promise of Shariah for an egalitarian society still remains a concept. While custodians of Shariah praxis in other societies have, through careful planning and effective policy execution, provided the objective conditions that enable their people to (more easily) avoid the material trappings that lead to the violation of Shariah laws, the Muslim North’ Shariah enterprise, to quote Eqbal Ahmad, was “an Islamic order reduced to a penal code, tipped of its humanism, aesthetics, intellectual quests, and spiritual devotion”. Details
The Igbo Question in Nigerian Politics: A Reaction to Prof Omo Omoruyi. By Jonas Okwara
(GAMJI)
Prof Omo Omoruyi has severally been mentioned as one of those who contributed to annulling the June 12 elections because he was an insider in government. IBB even admitted that much in an interview with Daily trust two weeks ago. He said of all the people who have abandoned him today, the actions of Prof Omoruyi were the most painful. Ebenezer Babatope a former minister in Abacha’s government, mentioned Prof Omoruyi in his book as one of the villains of June 12. Details
What is 'The North'? Who Are the Northerners'?: Ayagi's Pseudo-Dialectics. By Paul Mamza
(GAMJI WRITER)
Ayagi's piece is not an isolated case in this recalcitrant passion for vanquishing any effort by the people of the North to relieve themselves from the imposition of an unjust nation-state paradigm, the Southern Media with the aid of some absolutist agents of fury in the North have since the inception of this regime blamed the leaders of Northern origin and even the poverty-wrecked and miraculously limping ordinary Northerners for the human tragedy behind the past and present perpetual flux the nation witnessed, though intellectual honesty and fastidiousness only agrees that you can never be in control when you are not in power. Details
No Dividends of Democracy in Jigawa State. By Isa Muhammad Surajo
(GAMJI)
The professional civil service is worse hit. The morale of the civil service has been diminishing for it is only in Jigawa State that some one who has never been in civil service will be appointed a substantive director while a career senior civil servant will be re-deployed to a ministry or parastatal without schedule. The respect accorded to civil service is now history. The service is bloated not only at state level but in the third tier of government. Local government councils are now shadows of themselves. Details
The Kidio Affair. By Mike Ikhariale
(GAMJI)
Not too long ago, we heard that right under the nose of the presidency, one Mr. Julius Majokuola, a permanent secretary in the ministry of defense was alleged to have been caught swindling the princely sum of USD$3.3 million from funds that were supposedly under his care. It was quite a relief that the president, contrary to the seemly departmental attempt to cover up the mess, promptly ordered that the man be justly investigated and prosecuted. Details
Conflict: An overview of a Solution Model. By Clement Ikpatt
(GAMJI)
It is unfortunate that never in history has an Akwa Ibom leadership taken time to articulate what is the acceptable – from national appointments to revenue allocation formula or engineer and follow through with strong political initiatives that establish what must accrue to Akwa Ibom State. What we have had, and still has, are reactionary governments that play second fiddle to or respond timidly to majority interests and a bullying Federal government. That is about to change. Details
(GAMJI)
There
is no doubt that the people of
Military Coup: Is There a Panacea? By Debo Awosika-Olumo MD, MS, MPH
(GAMJI)
It is my prayer that we would sit down as honest and patriotic Nigerians and disencumber ourselves from this failed current disoblige status quo that leads to poverty, hunger, ‘parvenus syndrome’ and disease, with only a final outcome of violent balkanization of Nigeria. Details
(GAMJI WRITER)
The
ruling PDP and the President’s campaign managers are boasting of incumbency
and access to insurmountable amounts of resources. Adamu Ciroma, the chief
campaign manager of Obasanjo, once asserted that since they could not be
defeated when they were yet to ascend power, they couldn’t be defeated now
when they are in it. What a tragedy to reason this way!
Ayagi's Discourse: Beyond Belief. By Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo
(GAMJI)
A dose of Obasanjo's fairness will shock Ayagi when his turn comes. Apart from the PDP in the Arewa geo-political zone that voted for Obasanjo, the south-east and the south-south are all complaining. Recently IBB was on the line of fire by the same man he helped to power. Muhammadu Arzika, once Obasanjo's Private Secretary is cooling his feet in Sokoto. What about Bola Ige who lost his life in his courageous support for a man despised by his people but whom Ige tried to reintegrate and lost his life in the process? Has Obasanjo found his killers? What a "fair" man to vouch for? Ayagi's discourse is replete with selective argument and acerbic innuendos. Details
Obasanjo Has Not Marginalised the North, Says Ibrahim Ayagi. By Dr. Ibrahim Ayagi
(GAMJI)
The proponents of
this marginalisation image should know Obasanjo the way they knew him before. He
has not changed at all. He is the same Obasanjo who conducted the best, the
fairest and the most transparent elections in Nigeria and who, on disputed and
marginally favourable election results handed over power to a ”Northerner”
even though the main rival of the ”Northerner” was Yoruba. He did that
because he believed that the ”Northerner” won the election.
How to Laugh Without Crying, and Vice Versa. By Kòmbò Mason Braide, Ph.D.
(GAMJI)
[PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA]
By the way, based on his frequent flyer profile that spans the past thirty-eight (38) months of his nascent democratic posturing, we estimate that General Obasanjo still has some one hundred (100), or so days more to spend outside of Nigeria, or about fourteen (14) more overseas trips to make on, or before Thursday, 29 May 2003.
Federal Government, Mohammed Abacha and the Rule of Law. By Mohammed Bala
(GAMJI)
Alhaji Salisu Ibrahim Buhari was the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in the early days of this Government. He was found to have forged his certificates, which he falsely claimed to have got from the University of Toronto, Canada. The young man apologised to the Nation in tears, and resigned not only his position as the Speaker, but even as a member of the House. He was arraigned before a Court of Law and prosecuted. Interestingly and to the dismay of Nigerians, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Governor of Lagos State was equally found not only to have forged a certificate from the University of Chicago, but also that of Government College Ibadan! Both Institutions have denied having him as a student. Surprisingly, he was neither charged nor resigned his seat as the Governor of Lagos State. Despite the overwhelming evidence against Tinubu, he was exonerated from any blame by the Lagos State House of Assembly. Details
‘Diplomatic Passport' and the Baruwa Affair. By Mike Ikhariale
(GAMJI)
I am surprised that people who are habitually so jealous of their new-found role as parliamentarians should now unwittingly debase themselves by picking up passports that only make them appear before the outside world as agents or delegates of the Executive for that is the only rational way to explain that a legislature is also a holder of a valid diplomatic passport. Details
The North Will Not Be Intimidated. By Dr. Abubakar A. Muhammad
(GAMJI)
[PENNSYLVANIA, USA]
As I write this piece, I am aware that today is August 10, and as far as I can tell, there is neither local council election scheduled for today, nor has the voter registration taken off. It remains to be seen what is next ? That INEC has allowed itself to be used by politicians including the president, for their selfish ends, there is no doubt. Details
Constitution Making and the Struggle for Resource Control in Nigeria. By Otive Igbuzor
(GAMJI)
There is no doubt that majority of Nigerians agree that federalism is the most suited system for governance in Nigeria. However, the history and operation of constitution in Nigeria shows that it negates all federalist principles and practice. In any case, it is clear that control/allocation of resources is a constitutional issue. Meanwhile, the struggle for resource control in Nigeria has not given sufficient attention to constitutional reform. Details
Plateau Crisis: Need for Critical Evaluation and Solution. By Abu Jibrin
(GAMJI)
I urge those involved in the peace Summit to be sincere to our peoples. The religious leaders should never preach violence as this will never do any body any good. Religion is a personal relationship between humankind and his or her God and not a collective one between the public and their God so that every one must be there before the ship of salvation will get to them. Details
(GAMJI)
There is no a single Ethnic existing as a Hausa-Fulani. On one hand, Hausa-Fulani is meaningful to the descendants of the Fulani that came to settle in the Hausa land in the 18th century that later on in the 19th century usurped and overthrown the authority of the King of Gobir through rebellion, for the simple fact that this legitimatised their hold over the Hausa (the indigenous Habe). Details
In essence if abstinence is not
ideal for
everybody according to Dr. Yahya, how then can those who choose to cohabit with
different, many people will be able to observe the correct and ideal procedures
he predetermined?
The Osu
Caste System in Igboland: Discrimination
(GAMJI)
Therefore, this paper discusses the Osu caste system, an indigenous religious belief system, practiced within the Igbo nation, with the purpose of bringing the discriminatory, dehumanizing and obnoxious Osu caste system to the attention of the international community. Details
Fire on the Fountain. By M. O. Ené
Fire on the mountain… Run, run, run! There is political fire on the mountain quite all right, literally and metaphorically. Enugu [from “enu ugwu”] means “mountaintop” or “hilltop.” But my native Coal City is actually nestled on a valley of many mild streams on rocks and fertile farmlands. Details
The OBJ Syndrome. By Anie Udoh
(GAMJI)
[LAGOS]
It seems to me the president has so far been rummaging through the numerous subjects of governance with a heavy heart but without a deep understanding of his true mission. In frustration, his vision, ideas, enthusiasm and energy have waned. His heavy reliance on an OBJ-styled approach to the hard task of governance equates him, in a way, to a talented student who relying on his vaunted talents glossed over his studies and hoping to make his picks from the multiple choice examination failed woefully. Details
A Reply to Professor Omo Omuruyi's "Neither A Candidate Nor an Office Holder Be!" By Osita Chiagorom
(GAMJI)
[CHINA]
On reading your article, one who knows nothing about Nigerian politics will conclude that in the Nigerian context, the Igbos have always been the spoiler when it comes to the Yoruba man's affairs. Prof, that is of course the opposite, if we can really put ethnic sentiments apart and face the truth. Details
A Necessary Purification of the Market Economy. By Stephen Lampe
(GAMJI)
A just society to be sustainable, must also be a loving society. However, one must note that love is the unselfish and benevolent concern for the spiritual good of another. True love seeks what would give spiritual benefit to the one loved, not necessarily what is pleasing to either party. In the understanding that the purpose of life is spiritual and not material, true love would do to the loved one that which would advance his/her spiritual development, even if it brings him/her momentary physical pain or material deprivation. Details
Nigeria Owes New York City $1.2 Million Parking Fee. By Tokunbo Awoshakin
(GAMJI)
[NEW YORK]
According to the latest financial records from the city of New York, the Nigerian government is believed to be owing the city of New York an estimated amount of US$1.2- million on 10,720 tickets incurred over the year by consular officials for various kinds of parking fees in and around the Nigeria House in Manhattan New York. Checks revealed that from next week, if the fees are not paid, official of the New York city will start towing vehicles and limousines of diplomats who have unpaid parking fines of US$230 in the past three years. Details
Stranded by Choice: A Letter to Nigeria’s Talakawas. By Yinka Adeyemi
(GAMJI)
Use your head, dear Talakawa. Did anybody come to you with placards before the Supreme Court quashed the suit against Mohammed Abacha? Did you have to threaten the life of the president? Did you have to throw stones into the palace of the Emir? And, this Mohammed Abacha kid, was he not the one who said his father asked him to keep $700 million of our money in his house? How many of you, dear Talakawas, will see $70 in your lifetime? Details
Blaming the Victim. By Abba B. Gumel
(GAMJI)
[CANADA]
The recent anti-Obasanjo political protest in Kano has naturally attracted the attention of numerous Nigerian political figures, journalists and other citizens. In his usually thoughtful and refreshing column, my friend Yinka Adeyemi, the Washington-based Nigerian journalist and prince of spin, chose to lay the blame squarely on the common people of Kano for partaking in what he described as “mindless” protest. Details
Tunji Bello, Thisday Newspaper on Gen. Buhari Again. By Salisu Kofarmata
(GAMJI)
[KANO]
Again Tunji Bello got it wrong in his chase to murder the Personality of Gen. Buhari and Rimi in particular and to rubbish the image of Kano Emirship and his subjects, in his Column “The New Republic”, which he found the two gentle men responsible for stone throwing to Mr. president during his recent visit to Kano. The Journalist blamed Gen. Buhari and Rimi for the incident, and their failure to stop the youths from their dirty act. The journalist wasn’t patient enough with his emotion, he went ahead to curse the Kano Emirship by asserting that, is not only the president that was stoned but also the Kano Emirship. Details
Adamawa Must Not Obscure Justice. By Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo
(GAMJI)
As the capital of Gongola, the state prided itself as the “Sunshine state” and as Adamawa, it became “the land of beauty.” Boni Haruna who became its chief executive accidentally should have used his chance to enhance the fortunes of the people of “the land of beauty” as Atiku raised their hopes before being selected to become Vice President. Details
Neither a Candidate nor and Office Holder be! [PARTS I, II, and III]. By Professor Omo Omoruyi
(GAMJI)
The task before President Obasanjo if he is to perform the fifth feat in his political life and in the political life of Nigeria is to ensure a level playing field for himself as a candidate and for other participants. This is the only way to ensure a credible election in 2003. Can the President be a candidate and continue as the President at the same time? Details
Americans and the Mosquito Palaver. By Tokunbo Awoshakin
(GAMJI)
Nigerians here in the U.S. do not seem to be afraid of the virus-not that they have immunity or anything like that, they don't just believe that having escaped the elephant -like mosquitoes in Lagos and other Nigerian cities, they will come and die from mosquito bites in the United States. Which kin Mosquito be dat ! Details
Beat Associations and Investigative Journalism. By Ibrahim Dan Halilu
(GAMJI)
[KADUNA]
A couple of months ago the apex union of journalists in the country, the Nigeria Union of Journalists announced the proscription of all beat associations as part of the union's resolve to sanitize the pen profession whose practitioners had come under severe attack and criticism in recent times as extortionists. Details
The Nigerian French Language Village: A Study in Moral Decadence. By Augustus Egbunu
(GAMJI)
[LAGOS]
In view of the above catastrophic consequences of downplaying the African culture of sound moral values and respect for the sanctity of womanhood, it will be prudent to advise here that French languages, as important as it is to the nation's development should be learnt in the French Village and all tertiary institutions in Nigeria with much emphasis on the superiority of our African culture over and above any phoney European culture. Details
Requiem to the Abolition of Female Circumcision. By Hilary Evbayiro
(GAMJI)
Our legislators must begin to truthfully attend to their noble duties of making reasonable laws and leave our cultural life alone. If our lawmakers really think that circumcision is very painful and can pose serious and potential health and medical consequences, especially when carried out at later years in a woman's life, should they not try to make it less painful by finding a way to dulcify the fear and horror that have been attributed to the practice? Details
What!... Nomics are We Operating in this Country? By Ahmed Tafida Jalingo
(GAMJI)
[KADUNA]
What economic model are we really practising in this country, and when should we expect the results, or is it a way of forcing us to vote in 2003? What ever it is, please things are bad. Let Mr. Kpakol carry his magic wand and go back to America, we can manage this singular brain drain and carry on. Details
Nation Building. By Ime Udombang
(GAMJI)
[GEORGIA]
Our problems are not insurmountable. Our problems are solvable. Our collective destiny, through the route traveled in the past forty years, has brought to the surface for all to see, our passion and yearning for a better day. We have seen in these bygone years, some good, some bad, and plenty of ugly. Our past experience has therefore set the stage for a new beginning. Details
Is Minister Agabi a Nigerian? By Mike Ikhariale
(GAMJI)
For the avoidance of doubt, our curiosity about the nationality of Minister Agabi is hinged on the revelation that suggests that he does not know that as a federation, the federal government of Nigeria is conceptually not the source of the states of the union and that instead, the federal government owes its existence to the states and the constituent nationalities. Details
What is the North's Bargaining Chip? By Ibrahim Dan Halilu
(GAMJI)
For the avoidance of doubt the most consistent supporters of Obasanjo’s second term among the governors – Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi and Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu and Comrade Umaru Musa ‘Yar Adua – are having a hell of time with their people at home. They are not sure of their second ticket. Detail
Mohammed Abacha is a Hero: It can only happen in Nigeria. By Michael O. Folorunso
(GAMJI)
They have taken a some what progressive society, from looking upward to looking downward. They have simply stolen the hopes and aspirations of the common man and woman. Their greed left a trail of poverty, unprecedented level of unemployment and of course a high wave of crime. Mohammed Abacha has a case to answer to the people or peoples of Nigeria. Even with the settlement of 1.2 billion dollars, the man is still not willing to honor the settlement agreement. Details
Enugu State: Nwobodo and the Nwodos-Agitated Desperadoes. By Segun T. Dawodu, M.D.
(GAMJI)
The people of Enugu state should be awake to this Pogrom that will be eating into their political fabric. The legislators should desist from being hoodwinked by the Nwodos and Nwobodo into abandoning their responsibilities and running to Abuja. They should in their sincerity return to their constituency and their job. They should resist any attempt to be used by Jim Nwobodo and the Nwodos for their own personal aggrandizement. Details
Kano and Obasanjo’s Fate. By Paul Mamza
(GAMJI WRITER)
The travails of the Abacha family under the Obasanjo’s leadership has enabled the reformation process to take place with ease. With this development therefore, if the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) being the only viable opposition party in the country (Not minding the newly registered parties) can put it’s acts together and adopt a viable presidential candidate like General Muhammadu Buhari it will be apparent that the ANPP is sure of grabbing power from the embattled ruling party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) if PDP insists on fielding-in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as it’s Presidential flag bearer come 2003. Details
National I.D. Card and Nigerians. By Umaru Dembo, mni
(GAMJI)
Nigerians would wish that they are able to feed themselves and get security around themselves before getting a card in their pocket which would in the long run cost more than what they can get let alone spend in ten years! Not too long ago, there was this worry of Nigerians especially from the North that the ID card is to be mixed with voter registration . It is a surprise that when the Minister spoke to a national newspaper recently, neither the minister nor the reporter made the point that the I D card would now have nothing to do with the voters register. Details
I Had a Dream...By Ime Udombangy
[GEORGIA]
(GAMJI)
What our national leaders are doing right now is trying to 419 the world into investing in property located on the rim of an active volcano. When the nation becomes a decent, safe and conducive place for its citizens to live and prosper, believe me, the international community will come begging to invest. The K-leg is the National stadium in Abuja, the proposed supply of electricity to neighboring West African countries while we are still dependent on lanterns and candles, and other projects that are light years away from what the grass roots citizens need relief from. Like basic social amenities e.g. health, water, security etc. Details
WEEKEND MUSINGS WITH DR. NOWA OMOIGUI
Operation Aure (2): Planning to Overthrow General Ironsi
Shortly before 2300 hours on July 28, 1966, Lt. Col. Gabriel Okonweze, Commander of the Abeokuta Garrison was tipped off by Lt. Col. Patrick Anwuna, General Staff Officer (1) for Intelligence at Army HQ in Lagos, that the long anticipated Northern counter-coup was scheduled to begin that night. What Anwuna did not know for sure was that the coup had in fact, once again, been put off by its chief planners on account of a leak. Earlier that evening Anwunah had confronted Lt. Col. Murtala Muhammed in Yaba, Lagos with information that he was behind a planned counter-coup, leading to a mean-spirited (some say violent) exchange between them. Anwuna initially thought this confrontation would in fact deter the plot from going forward, and planned to do nothing. But having been prompted by Lt. Col. Alexander Madiebo to take some precautionary steps, and perhaps being in receipt of additional information, he took it upon himself to alert some unit commanders, one of whom was Okonweze. Lt. Col. Okonweze, therefore, called a meeting in the mess of all available officers (Igbo and non-Igbo) at the Abeokuta Garrison where he made the following announcement: "Gentlemen, I have just been informed that there is going to be a coup tonight. Anyone of you who knows anything about the coup should please tell us...." Details
"IN THE EYES OF THE LAW" BY MUYIWA SOBO
Justice Denied: The Story of Lara
Her name was Lara Sanyaolu. She was born 13 years ago in London, England to Mrs. Nike Sanyaolu and her husband, Kunle Sanyaolu. Lara was ebullient and ambitious. Not the one to disobey her parents, she acquiesced to attending school in Nigeria. She was enrolled at Bell Comprehensive School, Ota, Ogun State. President Olusegun Obasanjo founded the school in 1979 and ran it until he became the president. He is still the proprietor of the school and a member of its board of directors. That influenced Mr. And Mrs. Sanyaolu’s decision to enroll their daughter in the school as a boarding school student. One day, Lara fell sick. She endured high fever and excruciating pain for five days and then died. Her corpse was immediately embalmed before her parents were notified. Subsequent autopsy revealed that the girl died of curable malaria. Another student had died at the school two years before Lara’s death. Like Lara, the boy died at the school’s “sick bay.” The boy’s death caused the school’s PTA to recommend against keeping sick students at the “sick bay” beyond 24 hours without seeing a doctor. Lara was kept at the “sick bay” for five days where the school’s nurse continuously administered inadequate dosage of medication. Beans mixed with gari was her last dinner on earth. Lara was never taken to see a doctor. Therefore, based on known facts, it is reasonable to conclude that but for the school’s negligence, Lara would be alive today. Details
[KADUNA]
(GAMJI)
The only aspect I have reservation for in the campaign for sexuality education is the continuous neglect of the role of poverty in promoting illicit and premature sexual behaviour. Though no scientific research has been conducted in the country to confirm the claim that poverty pushes many spinsters into indiscriminate sex, there are pointers to the validity of this claim. In Kano State, which I know very well, a survey I conducted in brothels in 1999 had indicated that 70 per cent of those indulging in commercial sex work are from poor parentage. Details
The Niger-Delta Struggle and the "Weapon Nakedness". By Mike Ikhariale
(GAMJI)
Many people who are watching the sordid and endless carnage going on in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories do not seem to readily grasp the profound psychological rationale for the extreme condition in which a person would gleefully wrap himself up with deadly explosives and detonate them just to inflict some grievous harm on his otherwise invincible enemy, knowing fully well that he would be the very first casualty in the blast, a phenomenon now generally referred to as “suicide bombing”. Details
IBB: A Symbol of Valour and Tolerance (1). By Mohammed Bala
(GAMJI)
The name General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, whether anyone likes it or not, is a house hold name not only here in Nigeria, but in the whole World. His tolerance and near divine sense of forgiveness endeared him to the hearts of millions of Nigerians. I have never come into contacts with him personally, but from what I understand and read about him, I sympathised and pity him so much. I believe that there is no living or dead Nigerian leader that has received so much bashing and denigration from an irresponsible and partial press like him. Details
(GAMJI)
The zealousness of our democracy so fragile to resort to basest and primordial assumptions, primitive in the real sense of it when the world is busy becoming a global village, here we are talking Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Edo, Delta and so on. Do we have to border about primogeniture of Nigeria, for me, everyone of us has equal right and he is enfranchise, as enshrine in the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. Detail
Religious Underpinnings of the Osu Caste System. By Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D.
[MARYLAND, USA]
(GAMJI)
Alien norms, including the Christian faith, were superimposed on the indigenous Igbo value system in a haphazard fashion by a new army of “civilizing” forces from overseas. The sociocultural dislocation that emanated from this phenomenon still reverberates across the land and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. One could assert that such is the lot of a conquered people. Details
(GAMJI)
Obasanjo has lost our trust and can, thus not qualify as noble by any stretch of the imagination. As the planner of the ID Card project, for us to grant that Obasanjo's ID intention qualifies as noble we would have to first of all respect and then trust him, before enthusing so generously as Alibi does to this man, whose government has decided that its first three years can be successfully completed with or without us; no matter how hard we cry marginalisation, Obasanjo's Government refuses to hearken to our complaints. Details
A Requiem for Peoples Democratic Party: PDP Will Be Buried in 2003. By Max Gbanite
(GAMJI)
When I joined the PDP as a card-carrying member from my local government in 1998, the acronym ‘PDP’ stood for Peoples Democratic Party. By the time of my withdrawal from the party in 2001, the party has since reinvented its name to become ‘President’s Destruction Party’ or ‘Peoples Destruction Party,’ depending on which side of the legislative arm you find yourself or on what influence the Executive branch members have on their respective constituents. Details
The Sounds of Conscience. By Ahmad Tafida Jalingo
(GAMJI)
In the month of December 19 98, eight million Nigerians all of Northern and Eastern extract came out in the cold of the scourging harmatan to vote for what the elders assured us to be from the other side "that we can trust", we came out with all our donkeys, cows, goats and even chickens to vote for Baba Iyabo all amounting to the eight million votes that he scored. Today three years after we all have one reason or the other for regretting that singular action,...Details
(GAMJI)
Greed, injustice, and indifference to the sufferings of others (that are at the heart of the problems of international economic relations and also of inter-ethnic affairs) would gradually disappear, once we accept a spiritual purpose of existence. Economists, financial experts, businesspersons, and everybody else would appreciate that the missing link in the market economy is love. Details
The Need for Unity in the North. By Bala Mohammed
(GAMJI)
The North has been beaten, battered and disunited because of the nefarious activities of a few of us that cherish causing feuds between us in order to satisfy their selfish whimsical attitudes. Sometimes ago, and largely due to our leaders un concerned posture to our defence, northerners were killed, their properties destroyed four times in Lagos alone. Details