On 9th August 2022, Kenya held its 7th General Election since the return of constitutional multi-party democracy. The big story was that President, Kenyatta, made an alliance with the historical opposition party leader Raila Odinga thus abandoning his Vice President, William Ruto with whom he had a 20-year 10 + 10, turn by turn rule-pact. Discarded Ruto redefined himself as opposition and contested the elections as an “outsider” with the disconcerting self-label of hustler-in-chief. His campaign was directed at those in the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid whom he promised to address their plight. As Africa is indeed a hustler-majority…
Author: Editor
By Kadiri Abdulrahman In recent times, the paucity of foreign exchange in the Nigerian economy has been of concern to many Nigerians. Some believe that the heavy dependence on crude oil sales, with its volatility, is responsible for the shortage of foreign exchange earnings for the Nigerian financial system has led to the depreciation of the Naira. To address this challenge, apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in February, introduced a new intervention programme, the “Race to $200 billion in Foreign Exchange Repatriation” otherwise known as RT200, to boost the country’s Foreign exchange earnings. R200 was designed to…
By Malami Abdulhakeem, PhD Nyesom Wike has opened a new page in his political history. Though not new in Nigeria’s political landscape, the Rivers state governor’s recent action of inviting APC chieftains to commission projects executed by the state government, has continued to marvel most observers. Wike, as one of the country’s most performing governors, has a bevy of projects executed by his administration. His post-PDP primary activity is the inauguration of these projects to which, though a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in which he contested to be the party’s presidential candidate, he invited members of…
In the same “Change Must Begin with the Leader” written on 06/07/2020, we observed: “In Nigeria, they promised us ‘change’ and we fought to bring in its champions. Some lost their capital, others their health, while some paid the supreme price, but we all heaved a sigh of relief and proclaimed, “It has come!” We wanted change, and we thought fairness and justice would take the place of selfishness and impunity; that transparency and accountability would replace corruption but, above all, that our lives and property would be secure. “We have seen how our leaders of old discarded our homemade…
History is replete with women of note, who had the most impact on the world, but only a few refine the industrial and humanitarian tropes of endeavor like Dr. Pearl Chidinma Ogbulu, the Erelu Okin of Orile Kemta, Lagos State. An historical figure that Erelu Okin shares split semblance with, in legacy and panache, would be Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1814-1906, the first woman to have been a peer, Burdett-Coutts was made a baroness by Queen Victoria for her humanitarian strides to the poor. Prevented from working at Couttus Bank despite inheriting her grandfather Thomas Couttus’s shares and fortune, Burdett-Coutts instead devoted…
My close watch of Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) over the years has been a man with a strong fraternity to party politics. He is one Nigerian who defined his brand of politics within the context of political party affinity. Once he discovers himself in one, he dies by its principles and its ideologies. This is where the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party is lucky to have found him a good Man and part of the party’s camaraderie. Boss Mustapha from SDP after the merger in 2015 remains committed to preaching and defending the…
Let us be clear, all this political gymnastics around the religion of the ruling party APC’s Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections and the dust it has raised, is just to accommodate the lifetime presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Although a Presidential candidate emerges through a party’s primary election, choosing the Vice Presidential candidate is the prerogative of the winner of that ticket not the party’s. So, if anyone has any problem with APC’s Vice Presidential choice and the bogus, almost insulting reason given for that choice, you know who…
This week, there was a big story. Some of the perpetrators of the massacre at the Owo Catholic Church were arrested and sadly, that is not the big story. The big story was that they were not Fulani. Immediately the dastardly act happened, opinion leaders had asserted that they were Fulani marauders doing what they know best, engaging in atrocities against innocent people. Let me state that there are indeed Fulani gangs that do that, there are also religious extremist groups who are not Fulani that engage in such acts. The reality in Nigeria today is that many among the…
For long, there have been a lot of debates on the alleged domination of Kebbi State by indigenes of the Gwandu Emirate. But is it healthy for the good development of the state to keep on debating this issue? From all logical deductions, this ‘canibalization’ is not a result of a deliberate plan by the Gwandu people to dominate the rest of the state. The fact that there have been many key federal government projects and institutions located in Gwandu Emirate than in any other emirates in the state does not mean the Gwandu indigenes are ‘greedy lords.’ Yes, Gwandu…
By Taire Okudolo Unarguably, poor parenting contributes in no small way to formation of behaviours among the youth which they will exhibit later in life. Bad attitudes among the youth have, in several occasions, resulted in their eagerness to participate in cultist activities, militancy and ritual killings, among other vices. Ranging from soliciting good grade among students, indecent dressing, cultism, rape, examination malpractice, teenage pregnancy, prostitution and sexual harassment to drug abuse, observers note that poor parenting has a lot to do in checking the youth on these behaviours. Similarly, sociologists note that Nigerian parents are failing in their duties…