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By  Reno  Omokri A most disturbing thing happened in  Nigeria . Over a period of 3 days last week, the allegedly  ‘technically defeated’  Boko Haram managed to overrun multiple military bases and reportedly killed close to a hundred Nigerian troops and carried away heavy military hardware. *President Buhari with COAS Gen Burutai  But that is not the disturbing thing that occurred. The killings were shocking, but something much more disturbing happened. The Nigerian President, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the military and who is supposed to be the most pained over these avoidable deaths had time to: *attack former President Jonathan for agreeing with Transparency International that corruption had increased in  Nigeria *attack Priti Patel for saying that Mr. Buhari’s anti-corruption war is a sham. But the President could not find time to speak on the killing of over 70 troops by Boko Haram. As I write these words, almost a week after these gruesome k...

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   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   Phrank Shaibu There is a growing acceptance in Nigeria today, that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed again in his headship of Nigeria . This time, as a supposed democratic leader, the failure is not just visible nationally but even the International Community has recognized it and is not leaving anyone in doubt about their observations. *Buhari and Atiku  The recent remarks by some notable world leaders and top financial institutions have no doubt become a source of great worry for many people. In reality, the few persons that feel comfortable with President Buhari’s style of governance can only be identified in the camp of his seeming warped followers, sycophants and some Nigerians that have been intimidated into silence by the so-called anti-corruption agency of this administration.  For avoidance of the doubt, the global backlash under reference herein is not the recent remarks of the American President Donald Trump which captured the Nigerian President as li...

By Goddy Uwazurike I have read with disgust the vituperations of the enemies of this country on the choice of Peter Obi as the running mate of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. The complaints range from non consultation to why the choice should be from the South East to the ridiculous protest of non PDP members. *Peter Obi For the avoidance of doubt, very few people parade the intimidating credentials of Peter Obi. Again, very few people parade the integrity of Peter Obi. Further more, very few people parade the common sense economics of Peter Obi. Finally, very few people parade the ability of Peter Obi to overlook personal aggrandisement in public and private life.  For those who wish this country well, Peter Obi will bring a lot of good to the economic revival of this country. One of the prayers of ordinary man like me is that we allow our first eleven to come to power. The names brandished as possible nominees are first class . Now, only one can be chosen and he h...

By   Anthony Akinola Take it or leave it, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo would forever remain one of the greatest political leaders in the history of Nigeria . He was one politician eulogised and rightly adjudged capable of being a successful Prime Minister of Great Britain by no one other than a former Prime Minister of that historic colonial power. One enviable political attribute of Awolowo was his distaste for rhetoric, preferring to convince his audience about the viability of his proposal. He would go about his proposal like a diligent scholar would go about his or her doctoral thesis-define it, explain it, and defend it. For instance, when Awolowo proposed his idea of free education for the Nigerian federation, he not only explained its benefits, but  also went as far as explaining how what was a gargantuan project to others could be funded.  The type of discipline and belief Awolowo injected into his ideas is conspicuously lacking today. There has been much talk a...

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) said outcome of research it conducted across states in Nigeria revealed that most Nigerians believe that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has failed to meet their expectations since coming to power on May 29, 2015. *Presidents Buhari and Trump The report also predicted an upsurge in electoral violence and voter apathy during the 2019 general elections. The report entitled, ‘ Nigeria ’s 2019 Elections: Change, Continuity and the Risk to Peace’ , is a presentation of USIP’s electoral violence risk assessment research which was arrived at after interviews conducted in some selected states across the country. Based on interviews conducted in Adamawa, Anambra, Ekiti, Kano , Lagos , Plateau and Rivers states and in the FCT, the report said that the approach to confronting electoral violence in Nigeria has changed a little since 2015, despite significant shifts in the political and security contexts. “These shifts include changing na...