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By Laura Gil Years back, nuclear energy was a fancy option limited to the industrialized world. In due course, nuclear could be an energy source for much of Africa, where only South Africa currently has a nuclear power plant. Governments across the continent are devising development policies to become middle-income countries in the medium term. Socioeconomic growth comes with a rise in energy demand—and a need for a reliable and sustainable energy supply. For industrializing countries in need of a clean, reliable and cost-effective source of energy, nuclear is an attractive option. “ Africa is hungry for energy, and nuclear power could be part of the answer for an increasing number of countries,” says Mikhail Chudakov, deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Energy at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an international organisation that promotes the peaceful use of nuclear technology. A third of the almost 30 countries currently considering nuclear...

By Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa Ordinarily there should be so much going for  Nigeria ’s economy. Production of crude oil at about 2 million barrels per day at a good price of about 70 dollars per barrel is yielding good foreign exchange for the Nation, helping to boost foreign reserves which today stand at about 47.25 Billion dollars. Inflation has continued to decline steadily over several months coming to the current level of 11.4% as the CBN and its MPC retain monetary policy index at a tight stance. *President Buhari and Finance Minister Adeosun    Also some great effort is being made at the economic management level to pursue the Nigeria Economic Recovery and Growth   plan( NERGP). Additionally, some improved liquidity has been noticed in terms of funding  Nigeria ’s infrastructure projects, combining oil revenue,tax heist with a large dose of debt from sundry sources. Though the trickle down effect of the budgetary expenditure and policy choices are yet to app...

By   Yakubu Mohammed Her birth may not have been miraculous. At least not as miraculous as the birth of Jesus Christ, the story of which event is both elegantly and breathtakingly narrated in the Qur’an and the Bible. Something, neither divine nor spectacularly prophetic, must have decided her parents to christen her Miracle, this Edo State current wonder. Miracle Johnson is currently in the news. But not for any divine reason or some earth shaking accomplishments. On July 2, this year, God blessed her with a bouncing baby girl, which she appropriately named Greatness. On the authority of Punch Metro , the sizzling section of the Punch newspaper which is devoted to the stories of the bizarre bordering almost on the incredulity, this Miracle of a mother took her bouncing six-week old child to an orphanage in Anambra State where, according to the police, she sold her off for the not-so-princely sum of N200,000 ( two hundred thousand).   Apparently short of words to descri...

By Emmanuel Onwubiko Did we just read that president Muhammadu Buhari told lawyers that if you put national security side by side with the rule of law, that national security comes first? *Buhari  This is an unmitigated assault on constitutional democracy which must not be allowed to be swept under the carpets because it is manifestly erroneous and obscenely illegal. His resort to holding on to a so called supreme court’s decision which he refused to disclose the particulars makes the entire claims puerile, spurious, unbelievably shallow and therefore a nullity to the extent of its inconsistency. Shamefully, the lawyers sat down as the head of the executive arm of government embarked on this one man show of intellectual shame. The President has wounded the truth and must be corrected with all the speed that can be mustered. We will first determine the essence of constitutionalism which is the be all and end all of the form of government in practice in Nigeria without which there w...

By Reuben Abati I got a frantic call from  Ghana  the other day. It was from Lillian. The Ghanaian authorities were shutting down shops belonging to Nigerian traders at the  Kwame Nkrumah Circle  in  Accra . The Inter-Governmental Task Force set up by the Government of Ghana to regulate retail trade had arrested about 50 Nigerians. Many of them were detained.   “The situation is not good at all, someone needs to come to their rescue,” she said.  This is not a new matter. Across  Africa , the Nigerian trader is often resented by the local population, on the grounds that Nigerians are either taking over their businesses or their women. But the reported attack on Nigerians in  Ghana  is most disturbing. Both countries share many affinities: historical, cultural, political and social. Nigerians love to go to  Ghana . It is less than an hour away by air and it is a stable, organised society.  Since the reversal of fortunes between b...

By Reuben Abati It is unfortunate that the most important statement made so far at the on-going Annual Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association, an outright derogation of the supremacy of the rule of law, has not yet generated any coherent response from either the Bar or the Bench. *Buhari  President Muhammadu Buhari was guest of honour on Sunday at the NBA Conference and he had the additional responsibility of declaring the Conference open. In his address, he told the gathering of eminent lawyers and judges that his administration will prioritise national security over and above the rule of law. The “rule of law” often sounds like a catchy phrase among lawyers, and there have been so many confusing interpretations of it, especially by politicians, compelling Martin Kettle to advise in  The Guardian  UK , of November 25, 2006, that “we need leaders who better understand the rule of law.” Kettle is right because here is what President Buhari reportedly said: “….Rule of la...