faulker002

By  Paul Onomuakpokpo Until humanity blurs the power distinction that privileges the leaders and afflicts the led with misery, the magic for banishing strike would remain eternally elusive. Like in most post-colonial states, the power relations in Nigeria have rendered the majority of the citizens nugatory. The citizens’ input is not sought into how the resources of the nation are shared. Even if it is sought, it is not reckoned with when decisions are made. This is why while the leaders have security, the citizens are left at the mercy of marauders, kidnappers and armed robbers. Again, the leaders can live in plenitude, thanks to the resources of the society, while the other citizens go to bed on empty stomachs. Yet, when the citizens say they are fed up, they are told not to complain. They are told that their complaining would ignite a crisis that could be hijacked by some political foes and that the path they must learn to maintain is that of acquiescence in their miserable st...

By  Paul Onomuakpokpo No matter how much President Muhammadu Buhari strives at every critical juncture to portray his so-called anti-corruption fight as incontestable reality, it often unravels as an unrelieved charade before the citizens. This irrevocable futility has once again gained expression through the case of Usman Yusuf as a foil for the acclaimed Buhari’s lack of tolerance for corruption at a time there is a list of 50 corrupt persons, albeit disavowed by the government. Those on the list have been embargoed from travelling abroad while the nation’s law courts have not found them guilty of the allegation of ruthlessly heisting the national treasury or their state patrimony. *Usman Yusuf  Yusuf is the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). He has been suspended from office by the agency’s governing council led by Dr. Ifene Enyantu. There are allegations of corruption against him. He has been accused of illegally executing N30 billion inves...

By Olu Fasan  Akinwunmi Ambode, governor of  Lagos  state, has been thrown under the bus. He will not serve a second term in office not because the people of  Lagos  state rejected him in an election but because his godfather, Bola Tinubu, pulled the plug on his re-election bid. When somebody dies, Christians often say, quoting Job 1: 21, that  “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away” . *Tinubu and Abode    Well, in  Lagos  state politics, Tinubu gives and Tinubu takes away! He is the god of  Lagos  state politics, the lord of the Lagos Manor! In 2007, before leaving office as governor of the state, Tinubu gifted the governorship to his protégé, Babatunde Fashola. Eight years later, in 2015, Fashola didn’t know his place. He too wanted to be a godfather by making one of his own protégés governor of the state against the diktat of his own godfather. But, forgive the colloquialism, godfather pass godfather! Fashola lost out, and ...

By  Atiku Abubakar In a recent interaction in the United States , Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asserted that the “problem with our country is not a matter of restructuring…and we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the argument that our problems stem from some geographic re-structuring”. *Atiku It is a surprise that the Vice President would take such a position and, in particular, fail to appreciate the connection between Nigeria ’s defective structure and its underperformance.  It is unhelpful to reduce the construct of “Restructuring” to a geographical concept as VP Osinbajo does, which in itself demonstrates a lack of appreciation of the core tenets of the concept.  For the avoidance of doubt, re-structuring is not about the re-drawing of state or regional boundaries. The restructured Nigeria that a large number of Nigerians talk about, is a Nigeria that not only provides opportunities for everyone to work but even more specifically challenges every layer of g...