In today’s political landscape, it is a rarity to find a leader who upholds the principles of meritocracy, justice, and fairness in the governance of a state. However, in Enugu State, Governor Peter Mbah has (so far) demonstrated an uncommon affinity for these ideals in his approach to appointments and his handling of administrative issues. His emphasis on selecting commissioners and cabinet members based on merit rather than political connections or considerations has set a new standard for governance in the state. Additionally, his objective handling of the recent complaints brought by the management of Enugu State College of Education…
Author: Eze Jude Ogechukwu
The title of this piece was influenced by a drama book titled: “Our Husband has gone mad again” authored and published in 1977, by one of Nigeria’s leading playwrights and theatre directors — Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi. The award-winning playwright in the book takes a comic swipe at ideological misfits and opportunists who strut the ever-accommodating political landscape of contemporary Africa. A former military Major, takes to politics. His motives have far more to do with vanity than patriotism, and his attempts to adapt to a situation he hardly comprehends produce highly comic results. His…
In today’s fast-paced world, the significance of maintaining security and harmony within our communities cannot be overstated. The proposal put forth by the Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Barr. Peter Mbah, to establish ranching and abattoirs in select Local Government Areas, deserves careful consideration. From the government perspective, this initiative aims to mitigate the alleged terroristic activities of Fulani nomads and cattle herders, in the state, thereby fostering a safe environment for all citizens. But this explanation did not sit well with a portion of the populace. In fact, it is still generating heated reactions among the people…
Enugu State has maintained considerable level of political stability since the fourth republic. After then Gov. Chimaroke Nnamani vs Chief Jim Nwobodo skirmish that tored the State House of Assembly apart (2000 — 2003) and other unpalatable happenstances that characterized Nnamani’s second term (2003 — 2007), Barr. Sullivan Chime succeeded him, holding out olive branch of pacification. From thence, subsequent administrations have maintained a stable polity both in the judicial, legislative and executive arms of government. This millpond calmness subsisted presumably because the State was a running on one-party system. Peter Obi’s Labour Party (LP) thwarted this equation, as a…
After his austerity ridden regime was toppled on August 27 1985, Muhammad Buhari saw his 2015 emergence as President as vendetta opportunity to revenge his adversaries and reward his cronies. This was why he balefully incarcerated the poster boy of that coupe — Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) in jail, while his right-hand men like Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) was rewarded with appointment as Director General of lucrative organizations for eight uninterrupted years without auditing. He led the most warped regime (especially in terms of appointments into government offices) ever in the history of the nation. He spitefully took a Maritime…
On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly interred the remains of Democracy in a shallow grave dung at the desecrated floor of the House, when President Tinubu presented the national budget proposal for 2024 fiscal year to a joint session of the parliaments. The ritual of interment was presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and ratified by all the Senators and Honorable Members of the House of Representatives, when they ushered the President to the rostrum with a song of subservient allegiance, chanting “on your mandate…
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy.” — Thurgood Marshall Immediately after the controversial judgement of the presidential election petition court was delivered yesterday, I received quite a number of invitations from media houses (Radio and TV) to join them in their breakfast shows to analyze the bearing of the far-reaching decisions of the Justices at the court. I was reluctant to accept their request, because it’s like apostrophic postmortem. Obollo town of Enugu State where I come from had an ancient phrasal nuggets that: “agbagburu ote s’…
As the nation awaits the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal tomorrow, Nigerians are holding their breath in anticipation of justice being served. The outcome of this judgement will determine whether the purported winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is indeed deserving of the title. With the weighty eligibility encumbrances and legitimacy albatrosses surrounding his victory, Nigerians are yearning for a fair and transparent resolution. A nation, supposedly “built on the principles of justice and equity,” expects nothing less than an unbiased verdict from the respected Tribunal. Nigerians believe that this judgement will…
It is thirty four years since Nigeria lost a talented footballer and an exceptional human being — Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji. It was during a FIFA World Cup qualifiers match against Angola at the National Stadium Surulere in Lagos that tragedy struck, forever marking this remarkable individual’s place in history. As we reflect on his untimely demise, it is impossible not to be overwhelmed by a surge of emotions, a mix of grief, admiration, and gratitude for the indelible impact he left behind. “We owe it to our national heroes to ensure that their sacrifices are never forgotten and their memories…
The Executive Chairman of Udenu Local Government Council, Hon. Solomon I. Onah has expressed traumatic shock at the news of the passing of Late Justice Chima Centus Nweze JSC. In a solemn statement released yesterday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity — Mr. Kelechi Okpe, and made available to news men at Obollo Afor, Hon. Onah, expressed deep condolences and paid glowing tribute to the late Justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria, who passed away last Saturday. Late Dr. Nweze JSC, an eminent jurist and a distinguished member of the echelons of Nigerian judiciary, had a remarkable career…
Regarding Mmesoma’s plea and her parents’ accomplice I know for certain, that some of my readers, especially my good friend and brother (in FFK’s voice) — Barr. Ezugwu Okike will frown at this late commentary on the exam result forgery scandal by Ms. Mmesoma Ejikeme of Anglican Girls Secondary School Nnewi. “Always hit the iron while it is hot” is Okike’s usual admonition to me, whenever I cut to the chase late. But that’s because I don’t like preempting our miry judicial process, neither do I court public reactions. And that’s why I always wait to see the denouement of…
Hilda Baci, Jackie Idimogu and dog meat controversy The first weekend of this month, apparently started on merriment note for the Nigerian world record holder for longest cheffing hours at a stretch in a Cookathon of over 100 hours — Hilda Baci, but it ended in attrition with debilitating anticlimax after she came under attack from an acclaimed Animals Rights crusader, Jackie Idimogu following a viral video showing her devour dog meat with gleeful braggadocio. The incident was a comic relief for so many Nigerians who had been under depressive melancholy following the knee jerk declaration by President Bola Ahmed…
TINUBU’S RUDE AWAKENING “We Africans all over the world Now listen Suffering and smiling! Every day my people dey inside bus Forty-nine sitting, ninety-nine standing Them go pack themselves in like sardine…” — Fela Anikulapo Kuti. In 1977, the king of Afro-beat music genre, Fela Anikulapo Kuti released an album titled: “Shuffering and Shmiling” from which lyrics, the above lines were culled. The song hinted on decades of existential uneasiness that characterized his generation and forecasted many years of avoidable poverty that would underscore Nigeria’s underdevelopment. And 26 years after his death, this prophecy had continued to come through. On…
“Apostrophe” is a literary device that describes a piece of dialogue addressed to inanimate objects, or someone who is absent, whereas “Aside” is brief comment by a character in a drama addressing the audience, unheard by other characters. This is the second time I am using these literary devices pedagogically to paint an imagery of fault lines in Nigeria’s leadership, that had characterized our political chemistry since All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari came into office. The first was in April 02, 2021 when President Buhari was in London for his (usual) routine medical checkup and the aid…
Over the course of five decades, it has been an outstretched monotone from government and other proponents that the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) was founded to foster citizenry reintegration and national unity after the civil war. We have heard it thousand times without number, and what is left to be seen are the fortunes of the scheme when placed side-by-side its negatives fifty years after. First, there were so many half-truths about NYSC scheme. Though history has it that there’s no military conscription in Nigeria, but operating a scheme established by a military decree and enforcing it on young…
The popular American writer and multi-faceted artist of Egyptian origin — Suzy Kassem once prophesied that: “through love, tribes have been intermixing colors to reveal a new rainbow world. And as more time passes, this racial and cultural blending will make it harder for humans to side with one race, nation or religion over another.” Her prediction seems to be working in almost every nation of the world except Nigeria (especially when Igbos are factored in the equation). The evidence to this assertion is empirically ubiquitous. Being Igbo in the current Nigeria configuration comes with a huge price — the…
(Continued from last week) While ancient Chinese proverb believed that: “expectations can limit us, but they can also inspire us to achieve great things.” Sam Watson argued that: “we often set unrealistic expectations for ourselves and others, leading to disappointment and frustration.” This is because some thinkers like him believed that most times, “expectations are premeditated resentments.” It is high expectations on celebrities from people, alongside their own self-imposed expectations that pile the much-talked about pressure to live up to their status on them. Sometime, in February 2003, I was on my way back to School when I met Aka…
The ill-fate of Nigeria’s famous actress and TV series personality Ada Ameh who slumped and died on Sunday, 17th July last year, left many hearts wearier, when the cause of her death was made public. Punch Newspaper ran an editorial on her, highlighting how grief, loss, mental breakdown, and other issues dampened the life of the late Nollywood ace, which she herself attested to, in a national TV, many months before his demise. Her tragedy poses a fresh lesson for both established and upcoming celebrities, to overcome miarade of pressures which their struggles to lead lives befitting their status adds…
Two events have had sustained social media hype over the past two weeks. These two events took over the attention drawn by the fiercely worded open letter to the U.S President — Joe Biden by global icon of letters — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Recall that Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s attack dogs came for her soul. They argued that it is neocolonialist mentality to appeal to Western political authorities over domestic national issues like a rigged election. But they forgot how they literally sought, and begged for congratulatory messages from the same West, to validate their allegedly stolen mandate. They were so…
This piece may go down as one of the unpopular opinions in this space, not because it is fallacious, but because the truth it points to, stands the risk of being dismissed as act of jealousy or malice. Of course anyone who maintains regular opinion column will definitely come under fierce criticism, except such fellow is hosting an ineffectual space aimed at pacifying all men and women of honour and dishonor. But any columnist that is worth his onion will occasionally run into rejection, once any of his/her verdicts clashes with popular schools-of-thought on a particular topic. The court of…
It is esoteric to comprehend and nauseating to assimilate, that those who shouted “Go to court” after the rogue 2023 presidential election, are now afraid of the plaintiff and his court suits. Simply put: they have shown that their post-election taunts of “go to court” was borne out of sarcastic politeness, not that they expected anyone to obey it. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in whose favour, the fawning Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mumbled the will of Nigerians on March 01 2023 and declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu ‘winner’ of the February 25 presidential election has been running from…
“Borrowing is not the problem, borrowing for consumption is” — Peter Mbah. As the outcome of March 18, gubernatorial election in Enugu State kept making headlines for so many reasons, with the opposition threatening legal challenge, the Governor-Elect, Barr. Peter Ndubisi Mbah has been making inroads into the hearts of Ndi Enugu, the same way he did in the build-up to the election. Somehow, the CEO of Pinnacle Oil and Gas came prepared for the ferocious terrain of politics, when he threw his hat in the ring last year, battle ready to serve his people as governor. His acceptance…
The phrase “Audi alteram partem” is a routine legal maxim which loosely translates to “listen to the other side.” This fair hearing advisory is even more pertinent in a country like ours which juridical process operate on the doctrine of “presumption of innocence of the accused, until proven guilty.” For over eight months now, a lot have been heard of the indictment and final conviction of Nigeria’s former deputy senate president — Senator Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, for conspiring to harvest Master David Ukpo’s kidney, without adequately informed consent, to save his…
March 18, 2023 gubernatorial election in Enugu State will go down in history as the fiercest political contest since the creation of the State some three decades ago. Not even the famous 1979 governorship tussle between the defunct Nigeria People’s Party (NPP)’s Chief Jim Nwobodo and defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN)’s Chief Christian Onoh of old Anambra State could rival it. It came with a lot of intrigues, suspense, drama, misconstruction, propaganda and harsh realities, thanks to Peter Obi’s unique innovative entrance into the national politics that birthed the OBI-dient movement and altered the usual colouration of electoral certainties…
The term “Obidients” no longer needs introduction. Posterity will have a vast space of honour for it. It is prominently cited across all geopolitical lexicography; thanks to the enthusiasm among our Youths, influenced by Peter Obi’s irresistible leadership philosophy that has renewed the hope of ordinary citizens that “a new Nigeria is possible.” It is a bold statement of purpose by the teeming youths who advocate good governance — an extension of#EndSARS mass protest. A historic movement! However, as Nigeria’s endemic reputation for human rights violation happened to the movement, a lot of ontological disorientation crept into it. A boomerang…
What 2023 election has revealed to Nigeria politics since Mr. Peter Obi entered the presidential race was unprecedented. The old guards — PDP and APC were preping their campaign jingles on the usual rhetorics of humongous promises of unrealistic projects. But as the Youths (with yours sincerely in frontline) through various means including media call-outs brought in the third force personified in Peter Obi, the nation’s sociopolitical ecosystem never remained the same. The question of antecedents and previous track records of each of the foremost contestants took the centre stage. In providing answers to this question, Party relevance got diminished…
Watching Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the executive governor of Kaduna State in the evening of Thursday February 16, make a counter state-wide broadcast to President Muhammadu Buhari’s earlier verdict in a nationwide address on the naira redesign policy, made me reminisce the tragic story of May 30, 1967. That was the fated date when the Late Igbo warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, used his power as the Governor of Eastern region, to make a counter pronouncement to the creation of 12 states by then Head of State — General Yakubu Gowon, and declared Eastern Nigeria “Independent State of Biafra.” The General…
As the window of his earthly life closed on 31st December 2022 marking the end of a 95-year sojourn, and the door of eternity opens to him, let’s take a peep through the pigeonhole of afterlife of Pope Benedict XVI. A lot of interesting happenstances have occurred in our time for people of my generation to be appreciative of. Anyone born between 1960 and 2012 have seen civil war, witnessed global economic meltdown, experienced episodes of pandemic, incurable infections, exceptional global leadership seen in the men like Lee Kuan Yew and Pope John Paul II, seen a black man (Barack…
It is a thing of joy to behold a couple chastely glued to one another in admirable marital love in an age characterized by frightening episodes of divorce and home dissolution. This social scandal is more rampant among our celebrities. The new millennium is barely 23 years old today, but it had already seen over 44 cases of divorce among Nigerian Celebrities with this immediate past year 2022 alone recording 14 cases. From Saint Obi to Paul of P-Square, it has been one scary case of divorce to another, with Yul Edochie and Bright Okpocha (Basket mouth) being the latest…
All critical minders of Nigeria’s preparation for the upcoming general elections will see in the ruling All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) quest to retain power in 2023, a retrogressive match to 2015. A harrowing eight-year déjà vu. The reason many Nigerians acceded to Maazi Nnamdi Kanu’s sponsored rumour that President Muhammad died in London in 2017, buried in Saudi Arabia and a certain Jubril from Sudan surgically plastered to take on Buhari’s role in Aso Rock was because of the yawning communication gap between Buhari and Nigerians. Mr. Buhari presided over a presidency that was so distanced from his own people.…