It is time for leaders to start reasoning beyond greed and accumulation of wealth through corrupt practices and other methods of malfeasance to avoid the eruption of mob action due to poverty and threats of starvation. Over the years, Nigeria has witnessed huge and seemingly growing insecurity problems, a rapid increase in the poverty rate, high inequality and concurrent threats of instability. The recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics affirmed that 40 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty margin and more than two million are internally displaced. These and many more challenges pose serious threats to…
Author: Sanusi Muhammad
Despite the ongoing anti-corruption war of the federal government and the efforts of the transport minister to rehabilitate and reposition the Nigerian Railway for ease of transportation in the country at minimal cost, some unscrupulous elements within the North-east Nigerian Railway District Office in Bauchi in connivance with certain gluttonous land grabbers, have perfected plans to commandeer a large portion of land close to the office block of the corporation belonging to the corporation illegally. An investigation by this medium shows that the idea for the illegal deal was mooted by some criminally-minded staff of the corporation who confidently reached…
Penultimate week, precisely on June 23, the circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of a soldier serving with the Nigerian Army, lance corporal Martins leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of patriots, particularly to those that subscribe to the ideals of good governance anchored on the rule of law. The courageous soldier was picked up in Sokoto and ferried to Abuja, for making a video lampooning the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Yusuf Tukur Buratai and other service chiefs that exposed their incapacitation to remain in service holding the portfolios they hold with pride. In the video that…
Despite the efforts of the Mr. President to defeat security challenges bedevilling Nigeria, those on whose shoulders rests the task, seems to be incapacitated, deceitful and insincere in handling the task. Most of the states in the northeastern part of the country are under different forms of security threats ranging from insurgency, ethno-religious crisis, kidnappings, armed and pen robberies while development suffers. For instance, the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been under terror attacks in the last 10 years from the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents and the Islamic States of West Africa Province (ISWAP) from what started as…
Bauchi State APC Media/Publicity Committee has described the rejoinder published against the recent Independent Corrupt Practices Commission’s revelation of commandeering a federal ministry of agriculture’s allocated plot of land at Wuye by Gov. Bala Muhammed as laughable and baseless. According to the APC committee, what the public expects from those who laboured to defend the scandal and shield their principal against possible impeachment to facilitate prosecution is to debunk the ICPC report with superior facts than the published folk tale that made a caricature of the warriors. The press statement which was signed by the committee’s chairman, Comrade Sabo Muhammed…
SANUSI MUHAMMAD is a veteran journalist who worked closely with the office of the late National Security Advisor (NSA), Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi at the heat of the Boko Haram insurgency before the late retired military officer was sacked. In this interview, Muhammad shared his experience and proffered the way out of the insecurity situation bedevilling Nigeria. Remote cause (s) of Boko Haram insurgency Muhammad: Several opinions were expressed on the issue you raised including those from security agencies. But the truth of the matter is that the insurgency based on my experience with a cross-section of the terrorists was…
Until a few months back, the thought that kidnapping, banditry and Boko Haram, on the other hand, had become intractable was believed to be an exaggeration. Banditry, mostly limited to northern states, is a fairly recent menace, perhaps dating back to four or five years. The increasingly virulent Boko Haram, mostly limited to the Northeast, dates back more than 10 years while kidnapping that is limited to no particular section of the country, dates back to over five years. Now, the menaces reinforce each other, presenting themselves as the hammer and anvil between which Nigerians in those blighted regions are…
Several political commentators on the Nigerian brand of politics have treated the traditional political ideologies of communism, socialism and conservatism as an invalid and irrelevant basis for political activity. To some political analysts, it is not even a relevant explanatory tool of political activity. The relationship between traditional political ideologies and contemporary Nigerian politics has often produced interesting intellectual debates. The rejectionists basically advanced the view that political activities in Nigeria are concerned mostly with politics of development devoid of the luxury of ideological wrangling. In other words, that the overwhelming conditions of underdevelopment and other socio-economic factors render irrelevant…
President Muhammadu Buhari Next Level of governing style has vowed to appoint persons of integrity and high morals to occupy responsible positions. Whatever informs the designation of that particular day as “democracy day,” the fact remains that no single event no matter how watershed, epic, epochal or even significantly milestone can be sufficiently democratic to guarantee the democracy in practice. No outline of the single electoral process, no matter how credible, free and fair can ultimately qualify as the final product of democracy and therefore, its guarantor and quintessence. After all, the most notorious and known fascist dictatorship that the…
Blends of distinct chords make up life’s orchestra. Each chord comes with its own note and significance, but their essential mix gives a kind of musical harmony that lifts the human spirit. In life’s amazing symphony, the story of Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, by his sweet chords and actions, gives a meaning that is both mythical and sublime. His streaks in contemporary Bauchi State and Nigeria are no less profound by whatever definition and often likened to different interpretations of an elephant by the six Hindustan blind men which show how limited human faculties can be when describing enigmas that…
Salisu Ahmed Barau aka Wacos was a member of Bauchi State Executive Council during the administration of Malam Isa Yuguda. After a successful tenure as an Honorable Commissioner, he created a niche for himself in politics and remains an activist ever since then. He is presently a member of Bauchi State All Progressives Congress (APC) Media/Publicity Committee, charged with the task of rebranding APC for 2023 elections. In this interview he granted reluctantly to our North-East Bureau Chief SANUSI MUHAMMAD, he said his mind on the state of affairs in Bauchi state under the administration of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.…
As it is today, the global perception is that virtually every public servant and public office holder is corrupt and has a price for compromise in Nigeria. They are not only corrupt but super corrupt and insane to the liking of decent minds. They are tolerated and celebrated with attached pretence in expectation of benefits. But internally, they are hated like their boss, Satan. No one wishes to be like them till death. Corruption has become an endemic disease more deadly than corona, malaria and other deadly viruses. And the fabric that dresses and addresses the Nigerian society today is…
This time around, I intend to draw readers to my personal assessment of the leadership and followership we have in the entity referred to as Nigeria. We have leaders that are ordinarily supposed to be followers but mistakenly voted or appointed to leadership positions. Some of those leaders are just in power for a specific personal interest and those of their nuclear family members and tribal folk. And there is nothing more or less to say. It is a typical case of abracadabra. The more you look, the less you see. The more you see, the less you understand. It…
Former Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning and a renowned philanthropist, Nura Manu-Soro, has appealed to Nigerians to continue to remain calm, law-abiding, prayerful and to strictly observe all the simple health regulations issued by the federal government against the spread of the deadly coronavirus in their own interest. Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone, his Foundation intends to offer to cushion the hardship associated with the partial and total lockdowns in Bauchi state in the absence of palliatives from the state government, the philanthropist stated that with the ongoing increase in the spread of the deadly…
Anyone that doubts Nigeria as an impoverished country must either be living in the outer space or must be a champion of sharp corrupt practices. In fact, Nigeria has never since creation been a rich country as claimed in the economic sense of the word. The assumption of wealth has always been hyphenated to the abundance of crude oil and other natural resources. But those alone do not make the country rich. As a matter of fact, the expropriation of those resources by the thieving elite has only made the country poorer, wretched – and of course, the poverty capital…
The implementation of the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes (SIP), has come under the boots of critics and observers of national issues. The programmes, which were articulated in the government’s strategic implementation plan that preceded the 2016 “budget of change”, was part of the government’s three-pronged approach to governance of fighting corruption, addressing insecurity and growing the economy. In that regard, the social investment programme commenced in 2016 with an agreed annual budget allocation of N500billion which has been sustained since then for the past four (4) years cumulating to about N2trillion. The programme, which is part of “investment in…
Just within one year of being in office as a democratically ‘elected’ governor, Dave Umahi is already power drunk. He thinks to be a state governor is a herculean task in our corruption infested brand of democracy. Recently, as journalists, we got a taste of the corrupt and nonsensical leadership that we have to always endure for decades. It was on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, when the power-drunk Dave Umahi of Ebonyi state had the guts and audacity to “ban for life” two journalists – Chijoke Agwu and Peter Okutu – working for The Sun and Vanguard newspapers from Ebonyi…
Since creation, Nigerians have never had it this bad according to history. I’m talking about the reality of terrible oddities in our lives. Strange acts wrought by people who seem ordinary but sophisticated in wickedness and barbarism. Men rape their daughters. Other ones and their sons take turns in raping minors who they put in family ways. Claimed religious leaders caught raping physically challenged ladies in places of worship and flee. Boys go after girls’ underwears for money ritual. Human waste becomes edible in a money-making ritual. Boys rape their grandmothers. Men sleep with minors in a bizarre assault on…
Any leader at whatever level of leadership from the family to the presidency of any nation or country that subscribes to peace, order, security and social normalcy to prevail, must first and foremost ensure that justice, equity and fairness are provided to the people unconditionally. Peace and security without corresponding justice and fairness amount to shadow chasing which is always a mere illusion. It was the legendary Reggae Artist, Peter Mackintosh in his Block Buster LP in 1976 who said, “Everyone is crying for justice, I don’t want no, peace, I want equal rights and justice”. Tosh further said, “Everyone…
“Within six weeks we shall defeat Boko Haram to enable INEC conduct elections in a peaceful atmosphere,” said the former National Security Advisor Sambo Dasuki as a reason for the shift of elections date in 2015. “We shall within few weeks defeat Boko Haram”…Gen. Tukur Burutai That was not the first time Nigerians were assured of defeating Boko Haram by our poorly equipped security agencies. What instigated Dasuki to have dished out such pathological lie in 2015 was unclear until his sack and arrest for stealing monies meant for arms purchase to defeat the Boko Haram. What magic does Gen.…
We have all been victims and culprits of corruption irrespective of our classes. Many people attribute corruption to influential individuals who manipulate persons or institutions to get what suits them and does not belong to them shamelessly. Ordinary individuals are used for most of the criminal acts, and are not only used as tools to carry out corrupt practices but are corrupt agents in their own respect. While corruption has been consuming us with little or no honest and sincere commitment from leaders to eradicate it, President Buhari, based on his stewardship as military head of state, 1983-1985, had an…
It is quite possible that before now, not many people took their time to consider that there is no doubt that governing a state in Nigeria has been reduced to one of the most unduly simplified jobs which do not necessarily require an average intelligence or any special qualities to perform. Or, put another way: the overly simplistic interpretation most Nigerian governors have given their jobs has so much reduced it to such a very unchallenging assignment that it no longer requires any special preparation or endowments to execute; in fact, any God damn fellow can just walk in there…
Several Nigerians were not too offended with the reportedly massive irregularities that characterized and dominated the outcome of the 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections as much as they were with verdicts from the various election petition tribunals across the country, notably those judgments from the Supreme Court which affirmed the ‘elections’ of Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, Yar Adu’a in 2007 Jonathan in 2011 and Buhari in 2019. Researchers expressed fears and reluctance of conducting thorough studies, using alleged ‘inflated’ figures from various general elections which unfortunately had already made their way into the National Archives. If one thinks…
The policy thrust of President Muhammadu Buhari administration is a war against corruption and malfeasance but can he succeed without the support of an already corruption-infested judiciary? For the war against corruption to succeed, the judiciary must be thoroughly cleansed. Murder Inc. (or Murder Incorporated) was the name given by the American media to organized crime groups in the 1920s – 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and elsewhere. The name was a journalistic invention. This same phrase should…
It is very clear from the happenings in our state and country that an average Nigerian citizen, due to no fault of his/her though, is deficient both in patriotism and social discipline. This societal defect is even worse amongst the younger ones. The average Nigerian has neither knowledge nor understanding of the essence of Nigeria and as such cannot even begin to identify with the ideals of the nation. Many a citizen, do not even begin to realize the importance, value, and advantage of being a citizen of a country, not to talk of willing to work for the sustenance…
When the leadership of the exited 8th National Assembly was to be constituted, President Buhari was at best, nonchalant. As a political novice then, he claimed he could work with anybody; after all, he belonged to nobody but everybody! The exited Assembly presided by Dr. Bukola Saraki and Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara taught President Buhari on how to be a real democrat through effective legislation not minding membership of the same political party or belonging to the same region. It was a focused and determined National Assembly that added beauty to the democracy and rule of law. APC as the…
It was announced that the 2019 prestigious Nobel Peace Prize was won by Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali which should offer some insights to President Muhammad Buhari and those on the corridors of power that fire the shots in Nigeria. Nigeria, as one of the most buffeted and ethnoreligious crises-ridden countries in the world, should not always hesitate to follow the footsteps of the African legend, Nelson Mandela of South Africa to achieving piece no matter the consequences involved. Mandela was the arrowhead for a peaceful transfer of power from white minorities to the black majority, in South Africa…
It started as a child’s play in 2009, it was treated with levity. It was encouraged for steady growth. It is now a full-blown war. It is now seriously feasting on the nation’s economy. It is destroying the fibre of unity and peaceful co-existence at a fast lane. From the look of things, the end of the insurgency is not at sight in Nigeria unless hands are sincerely joined to chase the monster from the land irrespective of where it thrives most. The insurgency has raged on for more than 10 years. And when it appears that the vestiges of…
In my country of today, from the Niger Delta militias to Boko Haram terrorists to Zamfar/Katsina bandits and the general insecurity, my country is on the brink and plunging fast into the valley. The usual news and warning from western countries to their nationals visiting my country is that they should always be cautious as to where go or stay within my country, there is conspicuous red alert tag on my country the warning is not only for foreigners, but to even my fellow country men and women at home. For the first time in my historical existence as a…
