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On Monday, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo might have made his boldest pitch yet for his expected presidential bid in 2023. Speaking at the administration’s midterm retreat — with President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the room — Osinbajo appeared to have broken ranks with the […]
Continue ReadingAs we speak, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) — set up in 1989 to, among other functions, “review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities” — is consulting round the country to do a tough job: review the revenue allocation formula. […]
Continue ReadingThe brutal murder of Dr Chike Akunyili by the so-called “unknown gunmen” — I call them “the Boko Haram of the south-east” — has torn my heart to pieces. I was an associate member of the Akunyili family, having related closely with his wife, Prof Dora Nkem Akunyili, who did an amazing job as director-general […]
Continue ReadingMy decision to vote for Candidate Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1999 presidential election was influenced by many factors, one of which was his acceptability across regions and religions. Here was a southerner acceptable to northerners, a Yoruba acceptable to Hausa-Fulani and Igbo, a Christian acceptable to Muslims, and a civilian acceptable to the military. Although […]
Continue ReadingThe evolution of Nigerian federalism has undergone major genetic variations in the last 20 years, but the war that has just broken out over the value-added tax (VAT) may become the turning point because of the potential impact on fiscal federalism and the political economy. On December 11, 2020, Justice Stephen Pam of the Federal […]
Continue ReadingAt the centre of separatist campaigns in Nigeria, and possibly around the world, is the desire to have “homogenous” nations, or nations where an ethnic group is overwhelmingly in the majority, thereby leaving little room for rivalry, conflict and instability. When an ethnic group is overwhelmingly dominant in a country, the tendency for ethnic conflicts […]
Continue ReadingPlateau state is back in the news again — and for the usual tragic reasons: maiming and killing in the name of God. In the last eight weeks, over 100 lives have been wasted in the state. Not by bandits or kidnappers, but by ethnic and religious warlords. On July 1, attacks left 34 people […]
Continue ReadingHave you heard the news? The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) signed by President Muhammadu Buhari is the most anti-Niger Delta legislation in history, conceived and designed to further exploit the oil-producing region in favour of the north. How can PIA allocate a mere 3% to host communities while giving a whopping 30% of the profit […]
Continue ReadingIf you think this is a satire, then you are taking life too seriously. It is time to start thinking about unusual solutions to Nigeria’s unusual problems. There is no use following the regular route to address our irregular situation. For instance, conventional wisdom says Nigeria needs higher oil prices to address its cyclical budgetary […]
Continue ReadingOne of my favourite Igbo proverbs says: “What a dog saw and started barking ferociously is the same thing a goat saw and merely grunted.” As young as I am, I have seen so much in this country that when people are barking over a thing, I just sigh. Yet we are reacting to the […]
Continue ReadingNigeria, a country of roughly 250 ethnic groups arbitrarily coupled together by the British colonialists in 1914, is mired in an “existential crisis”, probably like never before. Apart from the north, it seems every other part wants out. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has long declared its […]
Continue ReadingI’ve been reliably informed that I irritated a number of people in two recent articles, one titled “True Federalism and Other Fallacies” and the other “Restructuring and the 1963 Constitution”. I can understand the frustration of many southerners: they feel trapped in a country with people they would rather not live with. The events surrounding […]
Continue ReadingFunny how we hardly reach any cross-ethnic consensus in this country, but the campaign for a return to the 1963 Constitution — increasingly becoming the backbone of the “restructuring” agenda — seems popular in southern Nigeria and Benue state. The core argument is that we need to return to regionalism: every region should control its […]
Continue ReadingPublic debate in Nigeria, permit me to say, is not as educative as you would find in many civilised societies. The predominant elements here are ethnic and religious emotions, garnished with delicate lies and dangerous half-truths. The first casualties, as always, are facts and logic. There is the “herd instinct” which makes us believe, say […]
Continue ReadingKindly permit me to start this article with a footnote. I run a medium-size media company that publishes an online newspaper. We provide employment for roughly 40 young Nigerians. We do not receive government subvention or subsidy. Rather, we constantly get — and promptly settle —government bills: VAT, WHT, PAYE, corporate tax, education tax, and […]
Continue ReadingWhen the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said it was suspending fresh passport applications in order to clear the backlog, the first question that jumped at me was: what is so difficult about this thing? Nigerians, home and abroad, have been going through hell to secure a document that should be steadily available. Maybe I have […]
Continue ReadingAccording to Mallam Abubakar Malami, LLB, BL, the attorney-general of the Nigerian federation, minister of justice, senior advocate of Nigeria and member of the Nigerian bar, banning open grazing is the rough equivalent of banning trading in spare parts. Let me take that again. When you say herders and their cattle should be legally restrained […]
Continue ReadingIf you are a keen observer of Nigerian politics, or should I say politicking, you must have noticed many unusual things about the meeting of the 17 southern governors in Asaba, Delta state, on Tuesday. In the first place, that the southern governors met at all — and, mind you, every single governor was present; […]
Continue ReadingDear President Muhammadu Buhari, what a hell of a week it was! Again, undergraduates kidnapped in Kaduna were slain while the ransom was still being negotiated. More bloodbaths in Zamfara claimed over 100 lives. Over 50 villages were deserted in Niger after attacks by Boko Haram, who cheekily hoisted their dark flag in one of […]
Continue ReadingDr. Isa Ali Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, has been at the centre of a litany of controversies for two weeks non-stop — an unusually lengthy period in the Nigerian news cycle. A newspaper had reported that Pantami, who is also an Islamic cleric, was on the US terror watch list because of […]
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