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Nigeria’s decisive intervention in helping to stop the coup in Benin Republic was a good commitment to saving democracy for the country, and, maybe more important, for us. I have always taken sides with the argument that Africa’s only option in consolidating democratic rule is to do so without recourse to the military, who are […]
Continue ReadingAlthough I have been a student of political science for over fifty years, I still often get surprised by the way in which security agencies take extremist positions in reading political criticisms of the regime in power. When my good friend Pat Utomi announced the decision of the Big Tent opposition group to set up […]
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 ReadingThere appears to be panic and deep pain in Afe Babalola’s actions since the publication and sales of the new international bestseller, Dele Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System. It became a bestseller precisely because the all-powerful Mr Babalola is determined to stop Nigerians and the international community from reading it. Apparently, no one […]
Continue ReadingNow that there is a new government, my bet is that Nigerians would be asking themselves the question of whether there would be a new cabal in power and its possible composition. This is because there is a passionate and widespread belief that for each regime, there is a powerful informal group outside the government […]
Continue ReadingThe book I have been waiting for has arrived. It is called: Formation: The Making of Nigeria From Jihad to Amalgamation, written by Fola Fagbule and Feyi Fawehinmi and published this year by Cassava Republic. The authors discovered a magical formula – that the writing of history is too serious an agenda to leave in the […]
Continue ReadingPolitical manoeuvres are currently at an advanced stage as the political class position themselves for power through the 2023 election. The political crisis in the country is, however, so severe that Nigeria may not reach that fatidic date in one piece. The problem, as we know, is that politicians are the most focused people on […]
Continue ReadingAs everybody knows, it is the turn of the Igbo to rule. No, others will say that the Yoruba have done so much for this regime and that qualifies them to take over when the tenure of President Buhari ends. Then the murmurs: who said the Hausa-Fulani are ready to relinquish power? These are the […]
Continue ReadingIn 2003, I wrote an essay drawing lessons for Africa from the collapse of ethnic federalism in Yugoslavia and other parts of the former Soviet bloc. The main lesson was simple, Comrade Stalin had imposed a federal structure based on ethnic federalism, and in history such federations last only as long as the “strongest” ethnic […]
Continue ReadingYesterday, a group of responsible and patriotic Nigerians who have watched with serious concern the unfolding crisis threatening to engulf our nation released a statement calling for urgent intervention. The group included Dr. Olisa Agbakoba OON, SAN, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, Professors Attahiru Jega, Joy Ezeilo, Auwalu Yadudu, Adele Jinadu, Pat Utomi, Jibrin Ibrahim, Rufai […]
Continue ReadingOn Wednesday, the government raised the price of petrol to N160 a litre, the third increase in a few weeks. Since then, there have been massive complaints and calls for action. The phrases – Occupy Nigeria, Enough is Enough, Revolution Now and Days of Rage – have been trending in the social media. It is […]
Continue ReadingToday is the anniversary of President Buhari’s fifth year in power and he has three more years to go before retiring to Daura to take care of his cows. In another year or two, the campaign for 2023 will take over the attention of the political class and governance would stop. This means the president […]
Continue ReadingThe most important universal shock that has flowed from the COVID-19 pandemic is that most governments in the world were unable and often unwilling to address the crisis in a manner that protected peoples’ health, welfare and lives. They have shown very poor governance abilities but demonstrated great skills in lying to the people. Their […]
Continue ReadingOn Friday, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, swore in Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem as the acting president of the Court of Appeal. This followed her appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari following the retirement of Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who had clocked the statutory mandatory retirement age of 70 years, as justice of the Appeal […]
Continue ReadingLast week, I attended a workshop at Wilton Park in Sussex on the theme of fostering social cohesion in Nigeria. It was organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The workshop title was framed rather diplomatically, as the focus of discussions was the Bishop of Truro’s 2019 independent review for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth […]
Continue ReadingLast Saturday, France, through the instrumentality of its most faithful poodle in West Africa, Alasane Ouattara, kidnapped the West African currency that was to be launched next year for the 15 countries in the region. In a press conference in Abidjan, Presidents Macron and Ouattara announced that the eight West African countries using the CFA […]
Continue ReadingThere is a lot of buzz currently over the recent programme by the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, to dismantle the Kano Emirate and contain the influence of its emir. For the younger generation that might not know much about the earlier attempt by late Governor Abubakar Rimi to do same, I offer today some […]
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