The federal government has declared war on the people. It has done so to remind us all that, even if it can’t provide effective governance, it still has enormous power to terrorize us. And it’ll do so without apologies to no one. The declaration of the war flowed directly from its obsession with social media…
The Sad Chronicles Of a Failed ‘Messiah’
Even his most rabid critics could not have imagined that he would reduce Nigeria to a failed state. Six years on, Muhammadu Buhari has achieved the feat with outstanding ease, as the country has, literally and factually, become one whose defining dynamic is anarchy unbound in all its terrifying ramifications. As the country steadily dissolves…
Malami and His Dangerous Theatrics
Abubakar Malami has a special gift for inviting discerning people to dismiss him as a clown. Indeed he’s a clown, but a very dangerous clown. This is because he’s the minister of justice and federal attorney-general. His portfolio makes him the country’s chief law officer and chief legal adviser to the federal government. A huge…
Healthcare: Argumentum Ad Buharum
Nigeria’s corridors of power are a sweetly otherworldly paradise. Unlike in the Western world where tough-as-they-come operators like the Donald Trumps get clobbered by some little quakes of these corridors, ours, in all their might and majesty, bend over backwards to sing sonorous alleluyahs to the men and women who hug, tweak and control them.…
The Beautification Of Jagaban
[responsivevoice buttonposition=”after”] Nigeria is bleeding dangerously and inexorably falling apart. But the urgency of the moment, when the country is virtually leaderless as myriad groups of criminals overwhelm the state, hasn’t stopped ambitious politicians from advertising their 2023 presidential quest so early. The leading aspirant among the expanding field of presidential hopefuls, is Bola Ahmed…
The Imperial President And His Self-Absorption
[responsivevoice buttonposition=”after”] Muhammadu Buhari is hypocrisy personified in very vivid colours. The irony of the cosmic distance between his words and deeds seems to be always lost on him. He and his shrinking army of core supporters think that he shouldn’t, and cannot, be judged by his words and what he does or fails to…
Beyond Okonjo-Iweala’s Ankara Fabrics and Signature Headgear
[responsivevoice buttonposition=”after”] Our own Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian, nay African pride, and toast of the international community, assumed duty on Monday March 1, 2021 as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO the global trade referee. It is historic, epochal and a humongous milestone. Okonjo-Iweala shattered the glass ceiling to smithereens to emerge…
Our Romance With Hunger
[responsivevoice buttonposition=”after”] In Nigeria, we make light of serious issues, including those that bother on our existence as a people. Most of the time, we allow partisan politics and ethnic affiliations to becloud our judgements; but when things go bad, we result to blame games. That is why we believe that a politician is corrupt…
The Embarrassing Impotence Of Federal Might
[responsivevoice] Nigeria’s president is one of the most powerful state executives in the world. The constitution provides very little limitations on his authority. When this is combined with a supine National Assembly whose members are in awe of the president and commander-in-chief, we end up with an autocrat in Aso Rock. The immense powers of…
When Will Buhari Stand Up?
[responsivevoice] At a time the country is severely challenged on all fronts, Muhammadu Buhari, the president who’s not a president, takes a break from his hibernation in the fortified confines of Aso Rock. He’s in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, on what’s officially described as a one-week working holiday. He has no qualms enjoying the…