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By   Paul Onomuakpokpo A justification for an inevitable return of President Muhammadu Buhari to Aso Rock in 2019 has not unexpectedly accompanied the frenetic campaigns in some quarters. The president’s political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leaders of his government reel off the epochal achievements that have validated an end to the citizens’ serial negation of his quest to occupy the presidential office. *Aisha Buhari  For them, these achievements redound to the bid for his return as a means of completing the good governance he has espoused and enthroned. And more importantly, they want the citizens to appropriate a campaign for his return as serving a purgatorial purpose – a way of discharging their obligation of gratitude to him for bringing uncommon integrity to bear on governance. Yet, these people lack the right credentials to proselytise the suitability of Buhari for re-election. Their fold lacks that authentic voice to signal the readiness of Bu...

By Banji Ojewale “There is a great deal of difference between the eager man who wants to read a book, and the tired man who wants to read.” — G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) English writer Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi, the flag bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria’s 2019 presidential poll, come from two different backgrounds. Atiku is a swashbuckling jolly good fellow. Peter Obi isn’t. Atiku is a rumbustious politician. Obi isn’t. Atiku is a gregarious personality on account of his wealth. Obi isn’t. Atiku is given to raucous peals of laughter that reflect his carriage. Obi isn’t. Atiku is a political figure who has operated at the national level. Obi isn’t. Finally, septuagenarian Atiku’s temperament is predictable. 57-year-old Obi’s isn’t. *Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar  Two opposites brought together by the PDP to make Nigeria work again, following a perception that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has underperformed and sunk the country into an abyss of...

By Banji Ojewale “In all science, error precedes the truth, and it is better it should go first than last”  — Horace Walpole (1717-1797) English writer and politician. If we go by what our politicians (the major presidential candidates notably) are saying about each other this campaign season, we can’t but conclude that they are all ‘misfits’ for office in 2019. They have smeared themselves. They have used invectives dug from the gutter to paint themselves. They have cancelled one another from the log of men and women of integrity. *President Buhari  They have thrown away their gloves and bruised their faces with bare fists. They have either asked the umpire to stay off or have left the ring altogether to slug it out in the mud. Now it’s a bloody street fight all the way. When the vote is cast and the result declared, both the winner and defeated and spectator would be losers, none a victor, even if there is a coronation. Why? It would be a pyrrhic triumph, where you’d ask yo...

By Banji Ojewale There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women — Kofi Annan (1938-2018), former UN Secretary-General. I am among millions of Nigerians who can’t wait for the day God will bless our dear country with a visionary and radical female president, along with a great host of the fairer sex of kindred spirit governing the states and heading the MDAs. The tragedy of an effete economy, social stagnation and political paralysis that we have lived with over the years is the consequence of the neglect of this formidable section of society by our leaders.  *Atiku  Abubakar  Developing society and its constituents boils down to making use of all the functional human capital at your disposal. The moment you succumb to so-called imperatives of culture, false religion or superstition, and you drop the women, youth and the working class from your strides, you begin to enter a reverse march. That’s been Nigeria ’s misogynist history, always draw...

By Fredrick Nwabufo The depth of filth in the APC primary election can contain a tsunami. The “inglorious” exercise and its resulting attrition betray the anti-corruption sloganeering of the Buhari administration. *Adams Oshiomhole  A lot has been said about the alleged involvement of Adams Oshiomhole, APC national chairman, in the corruption shin-dig.  But what is the position of the Department of State Security (DSS)? The secret police interrogated Oshiomhole, and really did ask him to resign over allegations of bribery. Was it right in making this demand of him? What effectuated the agency to toe such a controversial and unpopular path? Well, the DSS has submitted the report of its investigations to the presidency, and it recommended the prosecution of the APC chairman. The new DSS chief is said to be a man of integrity and unbending principle, and will not brook any compromise. The case against Oshiomhole is that he allegedly received a total bribe of $55 million, som...

By   Luke Onyekakeyah The unwarranted attack by the Governor of Kaduna State, His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, against the person of former Governor of Anambra State and running mate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, has exposed the bigotry of El-Rufai which he is now shifting to Peter Obi. Nigerians should ignore a personal opinion that has no weight. *Gov El-Rufai  I tried to look up for the meaning of bigot for better understanding. According to the Encarta Dictionary , a bigot is “an intolerant person; somebody with strong opinion, especially in politics, religion, or ethnicity, who refuses to accept different views.” The synonyms for bigot according to Thesaurus are extremist, diehard, dogmatist, racist, hypocrite, chauvinist. How does Peter Obi fit into any of these unsavory epithets?  Anyone who knows Peter Obi, who has closely associated with him, knows that there is no basis, whatsoever, for branding an...

By   Hope Eghagha    Early in 2018 when Mallam Atiku Abubakar began to reference restructuring the nation’s polity as one of his cardinal goals, I thought I should take him seriously. As a man from the Niger Delta whose region has been fundamentally shortchanged by the current quasi-federal arrangement I naturally took interest in this core northern leader who had decided to make restructuring a campaign issue.  *Atiku Abubakar  Middle of last year I tried through some of his aides to reach him. No luck. He was either too busy or the aides I reached did not have the clout to arrange a meeting. So I let it rest. Once Atiku Abubakar secured the PDP’s nomination as presidential candidate I thought I should use this medium to broach some of the issues I would have presented to him. Let me state from the outset that we do not need a prophet to tell us that President Muhammadu Buhari is not interested in the restructuring matter. This is clear from the way he handled ...

By  Banji Ojewale Of two evils, choose neither — Charles Haddon Spurgeon (English Baptist preacher) 1834-1892 Now, it is certain that of the nearly 100 political parties asking Nigerians to vote for them in 2019, two are in the forefront: the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) governing at the centre and in some states, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in opposition at the national level but in administration in a couple of states. *Atiku and Buhari  We are glued to these two, courtesy of what our media gives us and the tin gods we have made of the candidates thrown up by the two political groups. So regardless of who they are, what they stand for, what they have said, their background and the implications of the sum and weight of all these on them when they become elected public office holders, we deem them worthy of our vote solely on account of their party and endorsement by a godfather or a cabal.  It is impossible to arrive at a salutary outcome through a proce...

By   Paul Oreniyi And yesterday the bird of night did sit, Even at noon-day, upon the market-place, Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies Do so conjointly meet, let not men say “These are their reasons; they are natural.” For I believe they are portentous things Unto the climate that they point upon.” “Indeed, it is a strange disposed time,” to further quote the inimitable. – William Shakespeare.   *Oshiomhole  It had all the trappings of a Hollywood movie, save that it is a tragic, if not macabre one. Viewed from a related angle, features of a palace coup are also visible, enacted fully or piecemeal – “here”, and to be fully enacted “there” if Abuja is found remiss in the rapidly unfolding events of the ruling party. For the taciturn army general turned politician at the helm of affairs of the APC-led government, the augurers are still out there plucking the entrails of an offering. Will they find a heart or not as the clock ticks towards February 2019? For the c...