The drama in the political space of Rivers State which has taken center stage in the media does not in any way hit those who are conversant with the real issues as a surprise development. This has been the pattern since the advent of democracy in the oil and gas-rich state that serves as the traditional headquarters of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The current faceoff between the incumbent Governor, His Excellency Sim Fubara, and his erstwhile Godfather, Chief Barrister Nyesom Wike, the predecessor of Fubara and currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. Both men belong to…
Author: Christie Obiaruko
Abuja is the modern day Egypt. To receive services, you must tender your Tax clearance. Lol That was how Pharaoh made the Israelites to source for straw themselves and produce brick and deliver within the same time. The new Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph made life worse for the Israelites. And they cried to God for help. Soon, Police men or Task Force teams will be deployed to chase the residents around for their tax papers. Even Tricycle (keke) drivers will be asked. And many will go to Oluwole to buy fake tax papers. Hospitals will demand for it before…
“Saul is on the throne and maybe till the next 40 years, so it’s time to move on” This was his speech in that short video. Pastor Paul Adefarasin of the House on the Rock Church has repeated this prophecy referring to the Nigerian situation of the 2023 Presidential election debacle. It has left netizens and citizens talking, bashing and in some cases, hailing him. While I do not intend to join the fray having been badly bruised by the so-called Nigerian politicians, I just want to point out that the story of Saul and David in the Old Testament…
Let the Poor Breathe In Abuja The primary concerns for Nigerians right now are security and food. It is essential to avoid any actions that could further escalate the already tense atmosphere and adversely affect the poor and vulnerable population in Abuja. Unfortunately, numerous displaced communities from states ravaged by banditry are being relocated to Abuja without sufficient shelter and food. These individuals often gather near road junctions, seeking alms, and later retreat to makeshift shelters. Tragically, young girls and even married women are exposed to criminals who exploit them as sex slaves in exchange for basic necessities like food,…
“We can easily recall the sacrifice and martyrdom of Chief MKO Abiola, the custodian of the sacred mandate that was so cruelly annulled. He sacrificed his life in unyielding, patriotic defense of the ideals of democracy as symbolized in his choice, by his fellow countrymen and women, as their duly-elected President. There was an easier choice for him. It was to forgo the justice of his cause and opt for the path of ease and capitulation in the face of the tyranny of power.” Above is an excerpt from the speech delivered by Nigeria’s president who was one of the…
Forces that have kept Nigeria in chains are stronger than the Prince of Persia that withheld Daniel’s answers for 21 days. Tell me how else to describe the frustration faced by candidates who seek redress in court after INEC had declared winners in an election fraught with bare-faced irregularities and deliberate manipulations? The style now is “Let us win first and let them go to Court.” Yes, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a candidate to prove electoral fraud at the Election Petition Tribunal. What is the cost of hiring…
It’s amusing and again annoying what some privileged persons are doing to worsen the image of Nigeria. It is no longer the “job men” but a group of unrepentant demons who pose as earthly principalities and powers just to finish whatever is remaining as our unity, peace and progress. How do we reconcile the fact that the BVAS machines approved by law for accreditation of voters as well as the collation and transmission of results from the polling units to the central Server of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, will have to be reconfigured or reset before the Governorship and…
I just realized that in life, the people you meet going up, you will meet when coming down. I remember when in 2013, Wike as Minister in active connivance with the PDP National led by Uche Secondus and Dan Orbih used the powers of their office to change the outcome of the PDP Chairmanship elections won by late Chief G.U. Ake and replaced him with Felix Obuah (Goround) via a contrived judgment. It looked like God’s rod of justice was too short to intervene. It’s been a decade since that infamous power switch that forced Amaechi out of PDP, and…
We are the reason why the East lost out in the power shift! We hailed when we ought to have wailed. When the two brothers were at daggers down. We were the cheerleaders. Pitching tents on both sides when we should have sued for peace. Amaechi didn’t lose. Neither will Wike lose. It is the people of the East that lost a golden opportunity We always say: may the Labour of our heroes past not be in vain. Yet we have spat on the graves of our fathers. Whose sweat built the foundation of our unity? We played politics with ignominy…
The media space was awash with the video clips of the vituperation of one of the frontline presidential aspirants of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu pooh-poohing President Buhari. Tinubu who was in Ogun State continued his consultation with party leaders and delegates to seek their support at the National Convention of the party in Abuja. While speaking in his native Yoruba language, the former National Leader of APC who was visibly angry recalled how he had helped enthrone Buhari as President after three failed attempts at the polls. He further told a bewildered audience that the President was seen weeping…
Since the concluded PDP presidential primaries, there have been different narratives canvassed in the media space for and against the aspirants. One of such who has attracted more attention than the eventual winner of the election is Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. Back home, the age-old rivalry between his camp and that of his former boss and predecessor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has triggered a new frontier of arguments. While Wike and Amaechi come from Rivers State but belong to different political parties, PDP and APC, respectively, there has been an attempt to put them on the same…
The just-concluded PDP presidential primaries, which ought to be a trending story in the media seem to have been eclipsed by a more worrisome development that happens to be the conspiratorial plot to draft former President Goodluck Jonathan into the race to succeed President Buhari under the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which had hitherto sacked Jonathan from Aso Rock, in 2015. The former President had held sway for six years, having completed the remaining two years of late President Umaru Yaradua, with whom he had contested under a joint ticket. Buhari, who was the candidate of the opposition party,…
The day we begin to focus more on our ancestry as children of one father, the day we will put away the negatives that have kept us divided and hating over every little provocation! The failure of adherents of both religions to study their scriptures is the platform upon which selfish and sometimes ignorant religious leaders ride on to confuse and control our minds. It’s about time we stopped them! Education, formal or informal, is the major tool for recreating the minds of people. Poverty is second to ignorance on the scale of factors responsible for the tensed relationship between…
Since the airwaves began to be bombarded with top politicians in Nigeria, making their intentions to run for the highest office, I have watched with keen interest and tried to study the various speeches which in some cases received accolades and in other times were ignored by most Nigerians. The latter group has cogent reasons to do so, considering how many times we have read long speeches in the end and dashed the hopes of expectant masses. While not trying to diminish any of the Presidential aspirants, I have taken a deep look at the Declaration speeches which are somewhat…
It’s been the system of governance in our nation where for every government, a cabal runs its affairs. My experience over the years and based on verified information reveals the stranglehold on elected Government officials by those who either sponsored their election or those who were appointed into high profile positions. They are usually family members and familiar friends. These groups of people decide what document the President or the Governor sees and approves. They unashamedly flaunt their influence on the ‘king’ and brag about their rights to see, hear and speak for the person in power. When I led…
In part 1 of this series which received a lot of accolades as well as attention from different sections of the society and even beyond, it was obvious towards the end, the reason for the title. Unfortunately, not many know the story of the Trojan Horse even though it is recorded as a Greek mythology. While the Wikipedia describes so, it is becoming more real than imagined as the quest for power and domination continue to live with humanity and the black world is not excluded. The making of the Nigerian Trojan Horse is non-fiction, yet a lesson from history.…
The airwaves have been inundated with the call for a power shift from the North to the South even though zoning and rotation are not expressly provided for in the 1999 Constitution handed down to us by the Military under Gen Abdulsaalam Abubakar rtd. It is an internal arrangement by political parties aimed at balancing power and stemming the crisis that may arise if a particular people continue to hold on to power. Since the return to democracy uninterrupted in 1999, this arrangement has received some sort of stability at the Centre and in most states. While we have practised…
Once upon a time, almost every candidate of the political parties printed their posters and other campaign materials with the same caption, “The People’s Choice”. But all that changed with time. I have written all there is to write on the emergence of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor-elect of Anambra State. His emergence as the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and his eventual defeat of Andy Ubah of APC and Val Ozigbo of PDP is the test case of the dynamics that will shape the Nigerian political space, going forward. I had written sometime last year, during…
The battle lines were drawn, the drums of war drowning the initial applause that greeted the order for the financial probe of the corruption riddled interventionist agency – the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, whose headquarters is in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The first Salvo was fired by the Vice President sometime in May 2019, while on a visit to Delta State. Professor Yomi Osibanjo had publicly declared the Commission a non-performer having failed to fulfill its first mandate of developing the oil rich Niger Delta, in 9 out of 36 states. This shot by Buhari’s Deputy had…
He has been very much around in the political terrain. His political savvy and ability to meander through the uncharted waters of the stillborn democracy had once earned him the title of “The Luckiest Rivers Politician” by The Beam Newspaper, in December 2007. Prince Uche Secondus has proved that the Bible days of Daniel serving under four different Kings can be replicated in 21st Century Nigeria. He goes by a sobriquet “Total Chairman”, which he apparently earned during his tenure as the Rivers State Chairman of PDP during the years of Dr Peter Odili as Governor. Nobody was in doubt…
It is becoming a kind of ritual for the Rivers Governor to pummel perceived political opponents each time he schedules a program to commission projects he was elected to execute with money belonging to Rivers people. I am worried about this trend of bitter political rivalry and chicanery capable of setting a horrible precedence in the exalted office of the Governor. Is it likely that nothing good could have come from his opponents simply because they do not belong to the same side? Or is there a possibility of all those under and with him doing perfectly well, without any…
The agitation for a separate country out of what is known as Nigeria, by two major ethnic groups – the Igbos and the Yourubas, both of Southern Nigeria routing for Biafra nation and Oduduwa Republic is traceable to the failure of successive governments to address Injustice and Inequality. There is no gainsaying the fact that the concerns are germane, but the approaches of the two separatist groups are different. The agitators for the Yoruba nation are less provocative in their choice of words and non-violent, the Biafra group has become engrossed in using foul language and verbal abuse of those…
Dateline Delta State: Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and supervising Minister of the Niger Delta Development Commission stormed the state in an unscheduled visit. The man popularly known as The Uncommon Transformer for his exceptional feat in the transformation of Akwa Ibom State from a relatively unknown state to a wonder of the world in a 21st Century Nigeria, within the eight years of his government had depicted a rare courage to walk into the Lion’s Den at the time most of the Government officials have scampered to safety in the face of the heightened insecurity in…
While I was reflecting on the current challenges facing the nation in the area of insecurity, I got a phone call from a younger friend who wanted my opinion on the happenings in the South East of Nigeria, my nativity. He had set the tone of the conversation with his disgust for the youths who are involved in the insurrection against the Government of the day. He asked why the youths are destroying properties of fellow Igbos and equally engaging in upstaging the socioeconomic progress of the Eastern Region. Yes, he was right but only to the extent that he…
A nongovernmental and advocacy group which goes by the name Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative has thrown its weight behind the recent call for the reconstitution of the substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by stakeholders in the region, saying “is highly commendable.” The NGO in a statement signed and circulated to journalists by its Founder/President, Chief Obiaruko Ndukwe said, “We at Citizens’ Quest for Truth Initiative align ourselves to this clarion call. We are, however, averse to the 7-day ultimatum issued to President Muhammadu Buhari by Chief Tompolo to reconstitute the board or “risk a total breakdown of…
The discordant tunes in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that once held sway for 16 years in the reins of power in Nigeria has taken a new turn as a major plan was hatched over a year now by the Governors elected under the party in the old Eastern region. The decision to swell up the ranks of the ruling All Peoples Congress, APC, by these Governors who have actually held tight the party’s stronghold in the South East and South South States is part of a planned coup to ouster the owners of APC in a bid to…
The conversation elicited since the Asaba declaration of the Southern Governors of Nigeria is still ongoing but not with the unexpected clap back from different groups and individuals. Since the decision by the Governors to ban the much controversial Open Grazing, there has been a round of applause for the once regarded docile leaders, cutting across party lines, ethnicity, and religion. After a successful meeting hosted by the Delta State Governor in the wake of the rising insecurity in the country, trickling from the North and gradually spreading to the South, there has been a disturbing disquiet from their Northern…
– He is a big issue, love him or hate him. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has become a household name across every region. Rising from a child prodigy to the man with the magic touch in everything he lays his hands to do. Amaechi’s heart goes in even before the whistle is blown. From a powerful youthful Speaker to Governor and Minister of first class order. You may not fancy his paper qualification but you can’t fault his practicality in good Governance, in spite of several pitfalls and mistakes, which he has never denied nor dismissed. He was the apple of…
Dear Excellency, this curfew extension is only a cosmetic arrangement. We are no longer in a Lockdown. It is time to show the investments in security. Let us see if what you were part of during Amaechi’s Invasion of the Okochiri Forest (a smaller version of the Sambisa Forest) can still happen. These unknown Gunmen would have been tracked down before any attack if you had not disbanded the C4i put in place by your predecessor. All the gains of the past in the area of security have been lost under your Government. What about the armored Helicopters purchased by…
Dear President Buhari, it is auspicious that I write this letter to you, not as Obasanjo or Soyinka writes, but as a concerned citizen of Nigeria. It is going to be a short one, not to bore you with long history and epistles that may never be read by you nor the solutions implemented by your Advisers and foot soldiers. I recall vividly what my convictions were, when after many arguments, I decided to throw my weight behind you, even very late in your 2014/2015 campaign. I was more convinced when during one of the campaigns, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu…
