Two unrelated pieces of information prompted the writing of this piece. First was the statement from the chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Mohammed Bello Shehu, when he paid a courtesy visit to the chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State in his office in Abuja. He said the commission had concluded arrangements to review, upwards, of course, the remuneration of public officers in Nigeria. The last time such was carried out for these categories of Nigerians “was in 2008, which makes it even overdue for review,” he stated. The second was…
Author: Editor
I do not know what foundation former Vice President and People’s Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar has in mathematics but whatever it amounts to, it is extremely perplexing how he, himself, much less the baffling rabble currently aligned with him, sees any viable path to electoral victory this election cycle. From the six states of the South-south, all Atiku has left are four Governors, two of whom might not even fully be entirely sold on his ultra-controversial ambition. Cross River is All Progressives Congress, APC, with a governor determined to humiliate the PDP and the APC’s highly…
This is the season of manifesto, expectedly so, as the 2023 elections draw nearer. I have read a couple of manifestos of the front line candidates promising what they will do and how they intend to do them to advance the cause of Nigeria’s over 200m people. Morning, afternoon and evening, it is all talk about manifesto. But I do not bother about manifesto. The manifesto that I cherish so much is the manifesto of honesty, transparency and accountability. The manifesto that speaks to honesty of purpose and experience. The manifesto that speaks to previous experience and fulfilled promises. We…
A week ago, President Muhammadu Buhari travelled out of the country on a two-week medical vacation. He is expected back in the country next week. As has been the pattern since he assumed office in 2015, and he travelled on medical vacation eight months later, Nigerians again this time around raised the same concerns about why our leaders are always travelling abroad for medical reasons – they have failed to develop the medical infrastructure at home. In a country that used to be a medical tourism destination for persons as far away as the Middle East in the 70s, it…
When I joined the academic turf over two decades ago, I was accosted by a hawk on a recruitment mission, a kind of membership drive. The first lesson of hawkish agenda in a game is “win by any means, hook or crook” as the end justifies the means. The game must be manipulated to bring out the desired result, which is more or less a selfish end before the game even commences. Hawks fight to always win and hardly believe in “gives and takes”. Peaceful or diplomatic ways of winning a game are alien to them. “Leave the ball and…
Citizens who contribute to national development deserve appreciation – President Muhammadu Buhari The above quote by President Muhammadu Buhari captures the idea behind the national honours conferred on some Nigerians by him last month. And each recipient, well, almost all, when placed on the scale of merit, deserved what they got. However, in such national recognitions, in a country of over 200 million, it is impossible to reward all the deserving at a go. This is why it is an event that happens periodically so that those overlooked this year may get it next year or after. While everyone may…
As the President Muhammadu Buhari administration begins its countdown from office, the final ministerial retreat organised by the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has set new targets for the government, further charging the ministries, heads of parastatals and agencies. Closing his remarks at the 2022 edition of the Ministerial Performance Review Retreat held at the State House on Monday, October 17, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari, told participants that the main objective of the gathering was to hold his government accountable to the people and to set trackable agendas. And this was exactly what the…
After a lethargic start, the campaigns for the 2023 elections have finally taken off and the political atmosphere is heating up. My point today is that we must not allow it heat up to the boiling point when it might explode. The campaign started rather late because the ambient reality, the unhealthy elderly men that are the leading candidates needed to take time off, visit their doctors in Europe to get doped with performance enhancing drugs – to be pumped up with anabolic steroids and other stimulant drugs so that their old, sick and tired bodies can stand the strain…
Nigeria has seen it all: the good, the bad and the ugly, more in the education sector. A time there was when our graduates from the university were ranked high, mostly above those of our peers and comparable to those from universities ranked top in the world. Students came from countries across the African Continent and beyond to receive education here. Then it was so good and sweet. We were then a proud nation. Then things began to go bad. Lecturers began to abandon classrooms for banks and companies, during financial booms, and government offices, during oil boom. Corruption became…
Confidently and majestically, she strolled to the podium with calmness and unperturbed, she made one minute and fifteen seconds speech, which contained a few key messages. These are the Economic downturn affecting thousands of households in Britain, her inability to achieve her campaign promises, “I recognize though I cannot deliver the mandate”, due consultation, and then announcing her resignation as the British Prime Minister. Planning for the election of her successor. Hundred of millions of viewers watched the video clip with utter shock and disbelief. Few viewers watched her for the first time because she spent only 45 days in…