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By Chukwuka Igwegbe As the 2019 general elections draws near, there has been a huge clamour for the populace to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and vote for credible leaders. The clamour, though having good intentions is not rightly placed. Information available reveals that majority of the voters from the 2015 general elections were the uneducated masses. The educated class were reluctant to come out to vote, and in actual sense, most do not even have their permanent voters card. This nonchalant  attitude by the educated class during election period has been the reason for the continuous bad leadership being experienced in Nigeria . Despite having a skewed process in political parties in Nigeria that favours the emergence of elected leaders backed by money bags, the educated class have a lot of roles to play to change the narrative. A huge chunk of the voting public comes from the North and the elite of the North has misused this advantage by holding their uneducated follo...

By Comfort Obi If anybody was in doubt of why the civilized world laughs at us, the open letter, written to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, by Senator Magnus Abe, published in the  ThisDay  newspaper of Wednesday, September 26, puts a seal on the doubt. **Magnus Abe and Rotimi Amaechi I read it three times. And each time, my worries increased, with an exclamation to nobody: ‘Look at what politicians have reduced our country to.’ Both the Minister and the Senator are from Rivers state. The former, an Ikwerre man, and the latter, an Ogoni man. Until politics tore them apart, both were close friends. And belonged to the Dr. Peter Odili Political family – a family so strong, so influential, that every who-is-who in Rivers politics, from when Odili was sworn-in as Governor, owe their current and past “bigmanism”  in government to it. From being members of that political family, both men moved away, along with some others. So, enters, the Amaechi Politi...

By Peter Wamboga-Mugirya  A joke that is going around refers to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as “nothing going on.” My experience over a 15-year period of studying, interacting with and experiencing NGO activities in my country, Uganda, has proven the joke to be spot-on, apart from those genuinely fighting or advocating for the protection of human and child rights. The NGOs that have emerged to fight against the transformation of agriculture are really up to the nasty mission of stagnating agricultural development in Africa , and developing countries in general. Why? Because a focus on these NGOs and their anti-GMO activities has proven that they are hell-bent on selfishly opposing application of advanced scientific techniques or better methods of breeding crops/plants — particularly modern biotechnology or genetic engineering (GE) aimed at introducing drought-tolerant, disease- and pest-resistant and biofortified crops to our countries. They base their opposition to GM/GE...

By   Simbo Olorunfemi   The characteristic vice of the utopian is naivety; of the realist, sterility – E.H. Carr   The reality of the 2019 elections battle is finally dawning upon us. The contestation for power is becoming heightened. Alignments and re-alignments are taking place.  Some of the early birds who took the assurance of a ticket on some platforms for granted are beginning to realise their mistakes. The party that was in power yesterday has now become a receiver of presidential aspirants of all shapes and sizes, who have come to the realisation of the folly in nursing such ambition within the fold of the governing party, with the incumbent favoured to pick the ticket.  Port Harcourt has become the de facto headquarters of the party. There is a new godfather in town, and people are trooping in to pay obeisance and genuflect before him in the name of condolence visits. It is the way of our politics. The contestation for power is usually high-stakes....

By  Paul Onomuakpokpo If Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode feels being held hostage by his political godfather, he should blame no one but himself for how long his ordeal lasts.  No, we are not lost in schadenfreude – gloatingly cavorting about over the political misfortune of Ambode as he is being hoisted by his own petard. Rather, we are interested in the political fortune of Lagos , its development and the fact that Ambode is not confronted with a terminal crisis.  It is within his power to end his predicament.  *Tinubu and Ambode Ambode has been chafing under this political affliction that he is not sure of how and when it would end because he has refused to look for a cure outside Bourdillon. Consider this: Is it not possible that when Senate President Bukola Saraki says he has the magic wand to break the political godfatherism under which Lagos has been choking for over a decade now he is covertly telling Ambode...