The ruckus that has been generated by the announcement of former Borno State Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima, as running mate of the presidential standard bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the 2023 presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a perfect illustration and yet another sharp reminder of how religion has driven a wedge among Nigerians. Religion, etymologically, is derived from the Latin word, “religare” which means “to bind together”, but rather than bind the people of Nigeria together, religion has divided them along sectarian lines. It is the oxygen of devious power politics, sectarian politics, mass murder,…
Author: Editor
By Chijioke Okoronkwo The Russia and Ukraine standoff, vis-a-vis boycott of Russian gas has triggered significant disruptions and created a huge shortage in global gas supply chain. Available data indicate that Russia is the world’s largest natural gas exporter; exporting 238 billion cubic meters in 2020 and accounting for about 45 per cent the EU’s imports in 2021. It implies that any dislodgement in Russia’s gas supply would leave a deep crater which must be exploited by Nigeria, with natural gas reserve of 209.5 trillion cubic feet. Perceptive stakeholders hold that the economic trump card of sanctions on Russia for…
For those who watch the complicated Nigerian security mess from afar, the killing of Japanese ex-Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe in Nara, Japan last Tuesday and the ambushing, same day, of President Muhammadu Buhari’s advance convoy in Dutsinma, about 152 kilometres from his hometown of Daura, Katsina State, both speak to rising global insecurity. A few hours after on that same Tuesday, that joke went burst. Approximately three hours after shelling the president’s advance convoy with an assortment of bullets, killing two people in the process, around 10pm, terrorists stormed the Kuje Custodial Centre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, in a night-time…
Ike Ekweremadu has been a top-ranking politician who has been representing Enugu West Senatorial District in National Assembly since 2003. He was the Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate for three consecutive terms (6th,7th, and 8th assembly), totalling 12 years. On February 23rd, 2019, he defeated his closest rival, Mrs Julliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu of the APC with overwhelming 86,088 votes against 15,187 votes. He only lost his attempt to be the Deputy Senate President for the 4th term to Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who secured 68 votes to emerge a winner. Within the confine of Nigerian borders, Ekweremadu is not only a…
As the fevers of political permutations are rising among Nigerians over the coming 2023 elections, many forget that issues of national security are far beyond the present scourge of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping. The United Nations and the Economist have predicted a food crisis in the developing world in 2022 and beyond, particularly in Africa, which would have severe consequences in terms of political and economic stability. The ongoing mass protests in Sri Lanka which have sacked its government over lack of food should serve as a warning to Nigeria and other developing countries of Africa. The Covid-19 pandemic has…
In January 2019, the Daily Trust newspaper had its Maiduguri office shut down by the military over its reportage on the fight against insurgency. This made me think about governments and the failure of leadership, or, aptly, the king whose subjects saw through him. And so on January 14, 2019, on this page, under the title “The Military, Press and War Against Insurgency,” I gave that brief story. There is this fable of a king who, together with his palace courtiers and subjects, was scammed by a con artist who knew that people, rather than acknowledging the truth, would always…
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Bello Mohammed, is engaged in a battle to stop the sale of roasted fish and alcoholic drinks in parks and gardens in Abuja. Some persons might think there is no greater battle to fight in Abuja at this time in spite of the rapid degradation of infrastructure and rising insecurity in the city. That for me is misguided. Tuesday was an important date. The advance convoy of the President was attacked enroute to Daura. That night, gunmen who later identified themselves as terrorists organised a commando attack on Kuje Correctional Facility with…
By Fortune Abang In spite of the present economic challenges in Nigeria, many African countries still look onto Nigeria as the country with the capacity to provide leadership in investments. They hinged their optimism to the fact that the country has the human and natural resources to sustain its leadership position in the continent. Marie-Jeanne Ntakirutimana, Ambassador of Burundi to Nigeria, while speaking recently on “Burundi as the Heart of Africa,” on the sideline of the country’s 60th independence anniversary, called on potential investors to invest in Burundi’s agriculture, mining and other sectors. The envoy described Burundi as a free…
Africa is increasingly taking ownership of its own energy destiny in the private-sector space The continent is making policy and legislative progress towards a new dispensation where firms from the region can exploit and develop its own resources for the benefit of its people. Key to this is ongoing regional engagement. Africa is increasingly taking ownership of its own energy destiny in the private-sector space. But – equally importantly – it is also developing the policy and regulatory tools that support economic self-determination. Nowhere is this more evident than in Nigeria, where the long-awaited passing into law of the Petroleum…
Unfortunately, changing temperatures and rainfall patterns have led to prolonged dry spells, increasing incidences of pests and diseases, floods, and even landslides. A farmer in Bugisu or Masaka is forced to ponder, without answers, when the rains are coming. War can be avoided. Technology is about human innovation and ingenuity. However, in speaking about the availability of wheat for bread today, where the same has been disrupted by the conflict in Ukraine or that wheat cultivation on the scale that previously made Ukraine the breadbasket of the world – one may easily forget that neither war nor technology is as…