There is nothing as fatal as a blow from a “consanguineal fist”. A cut from a “sibling” hurts deeper than that from a stranger. I have been inflicted severe cuts – caustic verbal attacks – by some Igbo persons for advocating a president of Igbo extraction in 2023. While some of them are irritated by the attention that I have been able to generate for the cause, a few others see the “advocacy” as a means of cutting deals for filthy lucre. The fiercest opposition to the cause, “president of Igbo extraction in 2023”, has been the people for which…
Author: Frederick Nwabufo
Dear Police Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu, You cannot tackle the atrophic security threat assailing the country by pandering to the whims of the antagonists. Of course, being a sterling security professional, you know this; hence my befuddlement by your statement at the meeting in Kebbi state yesterday. At the indaba with the leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), you were quoted to have said these words by national newspapers: “We will take measures to dialogue with the bandits to become better citizens, but if that fails we will deal with them.” Dear IGP, when did it become…
We have always pledged to Nigeria’s unity. But we have not gone beyond this ritual and work at it. How can we assert, “Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable”; yet we constantly chip away at the umbilical cord that holds us together? It is obvious that the southeast has been politically quarantined. I think this is deliberate. Traditionally, the leadership of the three arms of government is dispensed on a “Wa-zo-bia” basis; that is, on the tripod – north, east and west – the country reclines. Political balance is a sine qua non for national equilibrium. We cannot pontificate on unity and…
On September 21, 2011, the hearing room of the Code of Conduct Tribunal was overflowing with lawyers, journalists and spectators. A “big masquerade” was expected to be huddled in the dock. It was Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu was a leading figure of the opposition at the time. And it was really no news that he was a discomfort for the Jonathan government. On that morning, Jagaban sauntered into the tribunal in his accustomed gait and fixed himself on a bench. Proceedings commenced with drama over whether he belonged in that humiliating cavity of the accused or in the bench of…
The life of a cat in Europe is much more valuable and protected than the life of a Nigerian living in Nigeria. In fact, there is a European convention for the protection of pet animals. Article 3 of this convention states: “Nobody shall cause a pet animal unnecessary pain, suffering or distress. Nobody shall abandon a pet animal.” Really, there is something revolting about a people with an abbreviated capacity for shock and action against government’s inertia. Since January there have been daily episodes of slaughter in Zamfara state. Even at the weekend, dozens of people were reported killed in the…
Ademola Adeleke’s victory at the Election Petition Tribunal is a locus classicus for democracy. It jogs the cerebral cortex and revivifies cautious hope in the judiciary. But really, the victory is just one small step to the archipelago of power in Osun state for the “dancing senator”. In 2016, about 81 elections, conducted during the 2015 general election, were upturned by the courts. The highest number since the 2007 elections. Of significance is the nullification of the Rivers state governorship election, of which Nyesom Wike was declared winner, by an election petition tribunal. The Appeal Court upheld the decision of…
You must understand that some things do not happen naturally here. Protests, in particular, are not organic or “an act of God”, at least not now; there is usually a “mighty hand” in the shadows pulling the strings. Unlike in the past, when men of good conscience like Gani Fawehinmi, Wole Soyinka, Chima Ubani, Richard Akinnola and Femi Falana, led mass movements against tyranny on principle, protests here are now monetised and deployed to achieve the insular ends of the “backer”. In fact, they form the core part of planning for any political activity. And there is a handsome budget…
Building a cohesive society starts with delivering justice to all and protecting the interest of not just a few, but all in the composite unit. Justice is the adhesive which cements the foundations of attuned societies. And it is the scaffold on which national balance rests. Mauritius is a poly-ethnic island country in Africa. The nation is a congruence of different peoples of Indian, African, European and Chinese of descent. But this tiny country is the most advanced democracy on the continent. It has been able to manage the disparate interests by maintaining a balance of power in its parliamentary…
To an extent, what the 2019 general election has established is that the people are still the repository of power. Really, has it been an election of “retirement”; “retirement” of political godfathers? The revolution in Kwara evidences a people’s defiance to a long political hegemony. But what is stupefying is the strength of this tide. The tide swept off Senate President Bukola Saraki’s in all the local government areas; his governorship candidate and his political structure in the state. Although, I concede that there might have been some manipulations to the elections in the state, but the margin of loss…
Nation-building is not perfunctory; it is deliberate, planned and decisive. A country as enormous, diverse and delicate as Nigeria cannot evolve organically when a part of it is marooned and confined in the fringes of political exclusion. The argument has always been, “the Igbo are not ready”, and “they are not playing the right politics”. But this argument is classically insipid and hollow. Some people have also argued that the Igbo are “putting their eggs in one basket”. This is also a moot point. The Igbo are no different from the Yoruba, the Hausa and the Fulani in the game of…
Dynasties rise and fall. It is a natural order. But there are factors which precipitate the declension of dynasties. For example, the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties was influenced by changes in weather conditions such as drought and famine. When the people are starving and dying of thirst they revolt against their emperors. The eclipsing of Senate President Bukola Saraki in Kwara state reinforces the power of citizens’ revolt. Mass revolts through the ballot are still potent. It is evident the people of the state have simply grown weary of a unilateral influence and control. According to an analysis by…
He woke up to a bright and sunny morning. It is an important day; a time to do his bounden duty to his country. Nothing betokened that it will be his final rite to this “shrine”. Instead of taking his vote, it took his life. A young voter killed at a polling unit in Anyigba, Dekina local government area, Kogi state. He was allegedly killed during an argument over who he should vote for. He died violently exercising his right in a place that should have been a refuge. In Rivers, the grim-reaper’s scythe reportedly hacked down two persons. And…
Is there any integrity left in INEC after Attahiru Jega? By Fredrick Nwabufo Will an election conducted under the cumulus of suspicion, doubt and allegations against the umpire of the exercise be accepted by most Nigerians? Do Nigerians still believe in the integrity of INEC? Is the commission still that fearless, dispassionate and impartial arbiter we have known it to be since 2011? I cannot answer these questions for any Nigerian, but for myself. I think INEC’s integrity is still intact. But right now, the biggest issue in this election is the credibility perception of the…
On April 2, 2011, INEC shifted the national assembly election by seven days (to April 9), citing “logistics and operational” problems. And it took this decision while voting had already commenced in some parts of the country. Really, what happened was that the electoral umpire had sent election materials meant for the governorship polls scheduled for April 16 to some states instead of those for the legislative election. This was an epochal, embarrassing logistics failure by INEC. However, the Commonwealth Observer Mission in its report on April 18 said INEC managed to hold a “reasonable election” on the rescheduled date.…
In the time of the pharaohs of Egypt, when African civilisation was at its apogee, dreams were considered an elemental means of communication from the divine. The story of Joseph and an Egyptian king in the Bible accents this. In Igbo cosmology, dreams, “nlo”, are often not weighed with levity. They are studied through priestly oneirology and interpreted. And even in Pentecostalism dreams have a place. Lately, I have been thinking pensively about the political future of the Igbo in Nigeria. And as it is, there appears to be no forecast of sunshine, but of dark clouds. The late Emeka…
On December 31, 1983, a putsch coordinated by General Buhari and his associates led to the demise of a democratic government. He was 41 years old at the time. And at the age of 76, Buhari has not lost the taste for “plotting”. He is still the same ol’ G. President Buhari has cast off all pretences. He has emerged from the smokescreens. He has shredded the “uncomfortable raiment of constitutionality”, donning is beloved military fatigues. And he has dark shades on, to blind his eyes from the consequences of his summary execution of the rule of law and all…
What was Oby Ezekwesili’s agenda? What was her interest? And what was her endgame? A few weeks to the general election, Ezekwesili woke up marketing the illusion that she was “Esther”; the destined liberator of Nigerians. She claimed she was running for president under the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN). Before her political interest, she founded the “Red-Card Movement”, the so-called third force, which only had bite on Twitter. She claimed the goal was to deracinate the APC and to bury the PDP. But like the BringBackOurGirls group she rode like a rodeo to irrelevance, Ezekwesili huffed with the Red-Card…
These are desperate times; a time of signs and wonders. It is “injury time” – anything can happen. Only the unwary will be taken in by the magic of this time. Everything you read, every video you watch, and every audio recording you listen to that is put out by APC or PDP campaign minions is a piece in the art of war of either parties. And as such, there should be caution in giving them credibility. Being circumspect is vital. At this time, we must have the head to bear our own mystery. We must not take everything at face value…
The APC and the PDP are at a fake-news race. It appears both parties are set on a single strategy of winning the February presidential election – through the audacious cross-firing of falsehood and lies. It will be prejudicial to say who is getting ahead of the other in this punitive race of fibbing. But the two parties are outdoing each other in the use of the fake-news artillery, and in the deployment of fact-twisting ballistic missiles. Vintage Nigerian politics. Today, APC campaign minions are posting fake pictures of completed infrastructural projects and crowds at campaign venues; the next day, PDP…
