Clueless and inept leadership of the past including mismanagement of resources, are responsible for the emergence of abject poverty in Nigeria. The high poverty margin is partly responsible for several security challenges we are facing as a nation. Poverty is today endemic in our once buoyant Nigeria and generational in nature. In a more general sense, it is widespread, traversing the entire landscape but more prevalent in Northern region when measured by different statistical indicators of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and other measures of inequality like the Gini Coefficient (GC), Intensity of Poverty (IP) and Human Development Index (HDI), of…
Author: Sanusi Muhammad
Recently, I had the privilege to honor a befitting dinner hosted by a friend for a family friend’s promotion to the management board of a leading upstream oil and gas company based in Port Harcourt. The event at the Toki Hotel and Resort, along slaughter, was peopled by friends and friends of friends- captains of industry and business moguls, including of course, members of the political class and top security personnel; some I was meeting for the very first time since creation. With cocktail served, the talks, as usual, amongst the invitees at the pre-dinner chamber where we were served…
It never reached our waiting ears with surprise. We all expected the national lawmakers to do what they did going by their antecedents on matters of national importance that has to do with strengthening the democracy and blocking possibilities of rigging. The growing demand for free, fair, credible and transparent elections in Nigeria, suffered yet another setback, courtesy of the legislative powers of our weak national assembly with some as beneficiaries of rigged elections and some received dictation and remote-controlled from the dark as some pretended to side the executive while others were mere sycophants hiding under the cover of…
One has no business with how the machinery of any party is managed and who contests what elective office on the platform of any party but that does not mean one should have no interest in the success of the democracy if not for anything, at least for the stated liberty it offers and the freedom that accompanies it in most times not minding the antics of compromised security agents that have turned praise singers and beggars for crumbs that usually outsmart their colleagues to strangulate the freedom of citizens for extortion, hence the call for the scrapping of Federal…
Media practice all over the world is the same. There has never been any difference in practice or style. The core value of the profession remains unchanged. The media educates, informs and entertains while conscious of the fact that the world must be a peaceful place for all. But in its faulty wisdom directed at a return to the Stone Age, and encouraging rumor peddling, the Nigerian National Assembly Members have silently resolved within their shallow thinking to gag the press for God knows why. The action of the national assembly is targeted at impinging on the people’s rights to…
The large piece of land referred to as Northern Nigeria occupies about 2/3 of the entire land space of Nigeria and despite all distortions houses over 60 percent of the entire population of the country, Nigeria. At the inception of colonial domination, ‘the British adventurers found already in place similar or even more sophisticated culture of learning, government, administration and flourishing commerce in Northern Nigeria. It was therefore, not difficult after the conquest with the defeat of His Eminence Sultan Attahiru of Sokoto Caliphate in the early 1960s that a system of indirect rule was foisted over the region. The…
Accumulated glaring cases of insincerity, corruption, inept and clueless leadership spiced with poor education and absence of other requisites, dragged Nigeria to the mess it has found itself. There comes a time in the life of a man that he has to take deep reflection to examine himself. The same applies to a serious nation and its people to take a good look at the mirror to appreciate its image. Great empires according to history had risen and fallen and even modern democracies have had to break up and go their separate ways without bloodletting. Union of Socialist Soviet Republic…
The good, the bad and the ugly parts of politics have reared their heads in Plateau State courtesy of the scheduled October local government area council polls. As usual, the hawks, the vultures and the hyenas are on the bit trying to outsmart one another for business as usual to flourish with their stooges in power. The political space is charged and taken over by jesters, town criers, sycophants and off-course the usual praise singers targeting stomach infrastructure, appointments where they exist and other palliatives from their pay masters masquerading as political leaders, elders or sponsors in a vacuum. With…
From 2022, the polity will get charged by serious and masquerading politicians in aspiration for elective positions and their supporters. Deceitful games and tons of lies will occupy the centre stage of the campaigns. The serious and sincere ones seeking tenure renewal will rely on the strength of their stewardship while the corrupt and those suffering from credibility crisis will play money and dirty politics to perfect their mischievous plans. Suffice it to when former president Obasanjo completed his two constitutionally allowed terms in 2007, there was no controversy surrounding which of the regions was to produce the next presidential…
Constituency projects are nominated by representatives either at the federal or state level for the primary benefit of those at the grassroots. It is also a means for citizens to feel the impact of governance in their respective communities. These projects are implemented with tax payer monies. Nigerians have a right to know how their tax contributions are utilized. However, findings have shown that representatives at the national assembly have formed the criminal habit of labeling those funded projects and social interventions by the federal government as their personal contributions to their respective constituencies while the opposite remains the case.…
While idling away in the hallow chambers of the National Assembly without a robust action plan for the good of the country, suddenly, an idea was mooted and hurriedly endorsed to review the 1999 Constitution at least if not for anything, the attached allowances were mouth watering enough to embark on the exercise and for cheap political diversion of public attention from several failures. The National Assembly is a body of the people’s representatives elected from different federal constituencies and senatorial districts to represent and protect the interests and aspirations of the people for their common good, and for the…
To those wealthy ones with large hearts, beggars are humans and deserve kindness for comfort, care and support to survive the odds. But others think the other way. Begging to some is simply a way of life, a right and a lucrative business culture that provides shortcuts to comfort and wealth accumulation with less stress. Not surprising, the numbers of beggars in cities and towns in Nigeria are on astronomical increase. From Kano, Kaduna, Minna, Lagos, Yola, Gombe, Dutse, Port Harcourt, Lafia, Makurdi to Enugu, the figures are alarming, the situation is provocative and unbecoming. There are, of course, factors…
It is becoming a great source of worry that despite the huge funding of the military to normalize the insecurity situation bedeviling Nigeria, the reverse seems to be the case. The situation has overtime snowballed to a catastrophe threatening the unity of the country. Discerning minds are worried on the appalling situation despite several claims of victory and assurances. But, how much can meet demands of the military to end the insecurity situations? Should we continue to believe in the capacity of the military to normalize the situation? The Nigerian army received over N1trillion in just 28 months and yet…
The ongoing efforts by the independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to recover what were looted and stolen including diversion of public properties from itchy-fingered politicians and their collaborators in various strata of government deserves support through whistle blowing and commendation. From the records, ICPC has so far recovered over N900billion from unnamed criminally minded politicians in strategic positions in government. Quoting Prof. Sadiq Radda, executive secretary of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, some of the indicted thieves are national lawmakers who converted constituency projects into cash thereby denying their respective constituencies the benefits of those projects. According to Radda,…
The fake news that went viral centred on the arrival of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists to Bauchi State. The fabricators of the fake news were up for some mischief against the peace enjoyed in the Pearl of Tourism. Disturbed by the weight of the fake news intended to divert attention of government and the people to non-existing issue, hurriedly like a wounded military officer at the battle front, Special Adviser to Governor Bala Muhammed on Media/Publicity, Comrade Muktar Gidado, summoned an emergency Press Conference on Tuesday, May 4th to debunk the disturbing mischief and strengthen the record. Muktar said:…
From independence in 1960 to May 29, 2015, Nigeria never passed through so an unfortunate situation as of today except the ill-fated civil war that could have been avoided. Bad governance, greed and corruption are jointly pushing Nigeria to the status of a failed state similar to Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, Libya etc. It all started like a drama play. It was treated with levity. We are today where we are. The corrupt and the thieves in government have amassed so much wealth that they cannot enjoy despite the heavy security protecting them and paid from public tilt. We are a…
Nigeria gained independence and as a sovereign nation without shedding blood in 1960 when the Union Jack was lowered and the Green White Green flag was hoisted at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos. It remains a day to remember and celebrate in Nigeria. But what are the benefits accrued from the independence? That is a topic for another day. The British colonialists were boxed to the corner by the nationalists and journalists of that time for unconditional independence to Nigeria. The 1914 amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates was an exercise hurriedly executed for ‘selfish’ colonial interest so to say. Nevertheless,…
From 2022, the polity will get charged by serious and masquerading politicians in aspiration for elective positions and their supporters. Deceitful games and tons of lies will occupy the centre stage of the campaigns. The serious and sincere ones seeking tenure renewal will rely on the strength of their stewardship while the corrupt and those suffering from credibility crisis will play money and dirty politics to perfect their mischievous plans. Suffice it to when former president Obasanjo completed his two constitutionally allowed terms in 2007, there was no controversy surrounding which of the regions was to produce the next presidential…
It may sound a revisit of the past in view of the eventual formation of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet to revisit some contentious issues in our body polity with specific reference to the interrogation of political tolerance and its utility in the development of our democracy. Arguably, political intolerance is a vice in the polity. It manifests itself when political leaders refuse to give space to opposition politics through a rejection of different views. However, political tolerance is a necessity by accepting and respecting the basic rights and civil liberties of the people and groups whose viewpoints differ from…
On the trended issue of the alleged stealing, diversion, squandering and reckless disbursement of the national patrimony by the embattled former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), the outrage expressed seemed patently hypocritical. Nigerians suddenly acted as if they have not been aware that at both the federal and state levels, a lot of atrocities are committed daily under the guise of our nebulous definition of ‘security’. Why are we pretending not to remember that for some time now, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was the big pipeline most activities of the country passed through, and…
If half of what is stolen from Nigeria is stolen from the United Kingdom, UK could have since collapsed as a country….former British Prime Minister, David Cameron The past has demonstrated that democracy is a fount of political stability, social justice, rule of law, principled distribution of wealth and overall societal progress. It has improved the standards of political morality, elevated societal ethics and refined the value system in several countries. Lamentably, in the topsy-turvy world of our beloved Nigeria, democracy has not been attended with any of these laudable outcomes. It has been fraught with social injustice, lawlessness, inequity,…
There is no better and more ideal time to voice out the truth no matter what may be the aftermath than the present moment where continued silence in the face of glaring injustice is a politically correct choice. This moment is one of such times. If the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. were alive, he would have no doubt considers it most appropriate to rephrase his statement about dark moments and bright stars. It was he who declared, and quite profoundly so, that “only when it’s darkest can we see the stars.” And this statement bears far-reaching significance. Darkness is…
Expectedly, no citizen prays for any calamity to befall his country no matter the situation at hand. But it appears, most Nigerians are compelled to subscribe to the disfiguring of the 1914 amalgamation due to systematic failure of their leaders and the level of high class hypocrisy on display and the master of all, corruption. As a country, Nigeria is unfortunately where it is today because of clueless and inept leadership. This has been the case with us over the years. Our successive leaders have been a disaster and catastrophic in all sense and it is the people and the…
Nigeria is a country blessed from all standards but still in search of good leadership in the midst of technocrats and intellectuals. It is a country that has been most unfortunate with inept and clueless leadership. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria is still in search of the right leaders to pilot its affairs with sincerity of purpose, determination and courage. It has been a country piloted on trial and error and wishful thinking. It is a country that lacks nothing to prosper but has no committed leadership. In the past few years, the country introduced programme after programme trumpeting the…
“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 actually instigated Dasuki to have dished out such pathological lie in 2015 was unclear until his sack and arrest for allegedly stealing monies meant for arms purchase to defeat the Boko Haram. What magic…
The ongoing reactions from various quarters to Governor Bala Mohammed’s rich and down to earth speech that exposed hypocrisy in high places, at the closing ceremony of the Press Week of the Correspondent’s Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Bauchi State, penultimate Thursday, deserves commendation from well-meaning Nigerians. Governor Bala exhibited courage by stating the obvious. The Governor used the occasion to bisect the contentious issue of clashes between herdsmen and farmers, with emphasis on eviction and restriction orders hurriedly issued by some state governments against herders within their areas of jurisdiction. Although grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted for…
The general belief is that no country the world over survives the threats of insecurity without a robust and disciplined army. Nigeria is not an exception. Barely six years after independence the Nigeria Army was dragged into politics by a group of overzealous, tribal warlords and unpatriotic young soldiers that murdered democracy on the platter of ethno-religious sentiment. Since that unfortunate development that culminated into a civil war, the army has not been same. For patriots and those who care about the security of Nigerians; the setbacks that the army is suffering in their fight against Boko Haram must indeed…
As the membership registration/revalidation exercise of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State is about to commence, a senior chieftain of the party in the state and 2023 gubernatorial hopeful, Nde Victor Dimka, has called for maximum cooperation and commitment of party members for the success of the exercise. Speaking on the telephone from his Kabwir country home in Kanke local government area of Plateau State to our correspondent during one of his massive mobilization of party members within Plateau senatorial zone, Nde Victor reminded party members that “it’s in our own interest” to cooperate with the registration team…
Nigeria is a country that has been on the reverse gear within comity of civilized nations where the extant law believes and encourages selective justice. It is a country that worships sentiments and subscribes to hypocrisy. It is a country that thieves, looters, drug barons and even scientific pimps are worshipped for what they can offer. It is a country where the rich are above the law because administrators of the law are friends and sponsors of those in power. Nigeria is a country where a stark illiterate can easily access power and encouraged to abuse such power for personal…
Nigerians cannot be classified as special specie of human beings going by their attitudes towards their leaders but can rightly be described as those without conscience and patriotic education to defend and protect their fundamental rights. I may be wrong in my assessment but the fact cannot be denied if critically examined. Nigerians subscribe more to ethno-religious sentiments than what binds them together as citizens of same country. Human beings, throughout generations, had been and are still, collectively, interesting! They are not only interesting but also interestingly complex wherever and whenever. This is one of the reasons why academic disciplines…
