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As Nigeria transitions into full election mode for the 2027 general elections, the political temperature is heating up at a scale that puts the country’s democracy under intense pressure. Democratic institutions are struggling to respond to pressures emanating from the actions of political actors. The political landscape has been marked by heightened elite bargaining, strategic […]
Continue ReadingAfter reading my article on the failed coup in Benin Republic, a friend sent me a series of chats via WhatsApp. He wrote: “As much as I agree with your piece on military rule, African presidents are shrinking the democratic space in most countries. Even before the coup, most of President Patrice Talon’s opponents were in jail. It is even worse in Tanzania. In Nigeria, opposition […]
Continue ReadingThe Defence Headquarters officially disproved the story of a planned coup in Nigeria, but that has not made it any less believable. The cancellation of Independence Day activities to opt for a “low-key” celebration, which excuses the President from appearing in public, suggests that the media reports might be on to something. Refuting the report, […]
Continue ReadingIn ‘Jokes and Targets’ by Christie Davies, a Soviet journalist interviews a Chukchi man: “Could you tell us briefly how you lived before the October revolution?” “Hungry and cold.” “How do you live now?” “Hungry, cold, and with a feeling of deep gratitude.” This sounds like Nigeria’s malaria victims thanking mosquitoes for their love and […]
Continue Reading“On matters of security, the bulk (sic) stops at the President’s table.” ―Bola Ahmed Tinubu, April 2014 On 26 January 2009, Mamman Bello Ali died. He was the governor of Yobe State in north-east Nigeria. At around the same time, an anti-terrorism campaign by the government of Nigeria in Yobe State and its neighbour, Borno State, was […]
Continue ReadingAs we mark another ‘Democracy Day’, it is important for those in authority at all levels to address the existential challenges faced by most Nigerians, the clear and present dangers to the communal faith in our country and the security threats posed by sundry cartels of criminals. But on a day such as this, it is also important to […]
Continue Reading1. Imperatives and Diversities of Democracy The two subjects- Democracy and Poverty- offer a freedom that I feel free to delve into on this occasion. We live in an assumed democracy in which poverty has become the most common feature of social being and economic existence. Whether you are rich or poor, the consequences of […]
Continue ReadingOn 30th May 2018, then Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha added a new word to the vocabulary of politics in Nigeria. Explaining the nature of the democracy being practiced in our country on a Channels Television programme, Okorocha told his interviewer, Ladi Akeredolu-Ale, “If you come to my state and I have collected N500 billion, yet I […]
Continue Reading“Traditional democracies will end up on the garbage heap of history” – Alberto Fujimori, 1938-2024, Peruvian President, 1998, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 37. I started the VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS in 1965 and got it published in 2007 – 42 years after. The first quote which caught my attention was by Dr Samuel […]
Continue ReadingToday, democracy has become the practice or an aspiration in many countries across the world. To speak briefly about its origin, it was in the ancient Greek city state of Athens in 508 BC that the statesman, Cleisthenes, reformed the constitution of the city state by transferring power from the hitherto ruling oligarchic aristocracy to […]
Continue ReadingPublisher and CEO of Ovation international magazine, politician and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu, has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it “anti-democratic.” Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Momodu said, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and […]
Continue ReadingIn recent weeks, we seem to have been wrestling with the very idea of democracy. After all, our political system has passed through the Westminster parliamentary system and over three decades of the Washington type presidential system. There is a prolonged assumption that we are indeed a thriving democracy and ought by now to have come […]
Continue ReadingMany eminent Nigerians, former governors and past public office holders expressed fears on Monday over the falling standards of democracy in Nigeria, arguing that it left much to be desired. They voiced their fears at a colloquium held at the Abuja Intercontinental Hotel to mark the 60th birthday celebration of former Governor of Imo State, […]
Continue ReadingDemocracies are sustainable only under conditions that allow competitive party systems to operate. There is a crisis in Nigeria’s democratic system and the source is our dysfunctional party system. For ruling parties, the crisis is deep; they stop operating as parties and become machines for ruling executives – the president and state governors – to […]
Continue ReadingGhana has taught both Nigeria and the US a masterclass in electoral integrity and democratic maturity in its just concluded election. For Nigeria, the takeaway is that electoral integrity is the cornerstone upon which trust and order rest. When an election is conducted with the meticulous precision of a weaver at a loom — its […]
Continue ReadingThere is a shrinking feeling about it all. With each off -season election that is conducted and results announced, we feel smaller and more unfree as a polity. Our elections bring about more insecurity; unpopular electoral outcomes require goons and thugs to protect illicit incumbents. And of course a larger number of election related court cases spring […]
Continue ReadingOn the eve of last Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State, Tokunbo Ajasin, son of Second Republic Governor of the old Ondo State (now Ondo and Ekiti States), predicted what would happen. “I believe the incumbent will win. There is no strong opposition, and the APC (All Progressives Congress) candidate is the incumbent,” the 75-year-old […]
Continue ReadingPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) claims that, despite the hardship in Nigeria, he is delivering on “good governance.” Which was why he urged Nigerians to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow. Worse still, he believes that his economic reforms will “create a stronger, better foundation for future growth”, “cement democracy as our way of life”, […]
Continue Reading(The 2024 edition of the Pastor Poju Oyemade-inspired ‘Platform Nigeria’ conversation held yesterday in Lagos with the theme, ‘Democracy and the Free Market Economy’. Speakers included Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, a former Lagos State Governor, Bishop Matthew […]
Continue ReadingLet’s come to the issues of recruitment and selection. All over the world, leadership is what changes history. Think of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka, Vladimir Lenin, and come to terms with the fact that followership are just extras in a movie! Or, was it ‘the people’ […]
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