Ns-Opinion

Opinion

Thursday, 08 December 2016 15:50

Buhari, El-Rufai: From democracy to guncracy? - Paul Onomuakpokpo

No one can easily impugn the sense in making democracy to be responsive to the special needs of the milieu in which it is practised. But such domestication retains its validity to the extent that the objective is to serve the people. We need not split hairs in so far as the reformulation of the concept of democracy is not a precursor to an accommodation of the crude cravings of some benighted leaders. What must, however, trigger vigilance is an attempt to tinker with an essential principle of the democracy – periodic elections. For here in Africa, we are not…

Wednesday, 07 December 2016 03:52

Back to the colonial economy - Moses Ochonu

They tried to "defend the Naira." It didn't work. It took them an entire year and a recession to realize that nobody does that in the twenty first century. They reluctantly let the Naira float, but they didn't let it go fully. Their authoritarian, command and control instinct would not let them do that. They still have caps and pegs that have morphed into multiple rates, opening the door to corruption in the form of round tripping. Then they decided that the problem was the money changers. They unleashed the DSS on BDCs in multiple cities. When the raids began,…

Tuesday, 06 December 2016 02:02

Why NCC's failed data price hike is very wrong - 'Sina Kawonise

The now suspended Nigerian Communications Commission's (NCC) directive to telecommunications companies (Telcos) to have a floor price for their services was premised on the goal of protecting competition in the sector. The directive purported to protect small Telcos such as Smile, Spectranet and Natcom by fixing a floor price that would guarantee that they recover their cost and make profit at their small scale of operation. The current price of data per megabyte among the big four is as follows: Glo - 21 kobo MTN - 45 kobo Airtel - 52 kobo Etisalat- 94 kobo Average price = 53 kobo…

Monday, 05 December 2016 15:15

774 local govts: Nigeria's biggest fraud - Tola Adeniyi

p> A litany of frauds came up in the wake of Lugardo-Fulani colonialism of Nigeria in 1914. And progressively from then came several other frauds which were perpetrated in furtherance of the grand design of complete domination and degradation of the 400+ nationalities that hitherto existed in freedom and political wellness before the roguish Amalgamation. Let me declare from the outset that the peoples of the Fulani Colony erroneously called Nigeria shall no longer keep quiet in the face of political strangulation. Peoples of this God-given territory which had existed before the great great grandfather of Lugard was born; existed…

Saturday, 03 December 2016 16:06

Tinubu and the ‘rational calculus of war' - Jideofor Adibe

Several of the ideas that flow from On War, the unfinished masterpiece of the 19th century Prussian general, Carl von Clausewitz, remain relevant today and could be applied in the analysis of any return on investment model (ROI). One of these notions is the ‘Rational Calculus of War’ in which Clausewitz argued that there should be a correlation between the value a state attaches to its goals and the means it uses to achieve them. Clausewitz argued that since war is not a senseless passion but a rational activity driven by clear objectives, the value a state attaches to these…

Saturday, 03 December 2016 02:31

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu represents a movement - Joe Igbokwe

I was privileged to attend the grand finale of Gov. Rauf Aregbesola’s second term bid campaigns in 2014 in Oshogbo stadium where I saw a crowd that frightened me. I have been attending campaign rallies since 1999 but what I saw in Oshogbo was unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. I was sitting close to a friend and when I sought his opinion on what we are witnessing he told me that this is no longer rally but a movement. After the Ondo Guber elections last Saturday November 26, 2016 many commentators began to celebrate the so-called Buhari boys in…

Friday, 02 December 2016 16:28

Governors and the politics of succession - Reuben Abati

The recent Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states threw up a number of issues about the politics of succession in Nigeria. In Edo state, you would think it was the then incumbent Governor Adams Oshiomhole seeking re-election. He campaigned more than the candidate. He danced, waved the broom, his party’s symbol, far more enthusiastically than the man who wanted the office. He even did more to put down the opposition and any likely threat to Godwin Obaseki’s ambition. His pretty wife was always in tow during the campaigns, and did she dance? Oh yes, she did too. Godwin Obaseki’s…

Thursday, 01 December 2016 17:15

Pot of soup democracy - Olusegun Adeniyi

Ondo State gubernatorial election has come and gone and by most objective accounts, the votes were properly cast, they were counted and they count–at least to the extent that majority carried the day. So for that reason, we must commend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for finally getting it right; the outgoing Governor Olusegun Mimiko for his maturity in congratulating the winner and all the contenders for displaying sportsmanship. Of course, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has promised to go to court, which it has a right to do, but if the party leaders are honest with themselves, they…

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 15:53

Fidel Castro: Tribute to a revolutionary - Rauf Aregbesola

“Died in beauty, like a rose blown from its parent stem” – Charles Doyne Sillery At last the curtain fell on the exemplary life of the Commandante of The Army of the oppressed and dis-inherited people world-wide. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz has passed on after 90 eventful years, 49 of which he spent as the Prime Minister and later President of Cuba. Indeed, Castro had become a permanent feature of political and ideological discourse for more than five decades, such that we almost thought he would live forever. At his passing, the feeling is mixed. Yes mixed! To lose such…

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 02:44

You're not the National Chairman of our Party, PDP tells Sheriff

PRESS RELEASE Our attention has been drawn to another set of garbage and tissues of lies put together by the discredited loyalists of Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff in the name of a press statement on Monday, November 28, 2016, wherein, the group tried to sustain its illegal claim to the leadership of our Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 2. The National Caretaker Committee which has been confirmed severally by the Court as the authentic body saddled with the task of providing leadership for the Party pending the hosting of an elective Convention, would have ignored the ranting of these men…

More...

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 02:41

Finding crude oil in the North is Buhari’s understanding of economic diversification - Pius Adesanmi

In my entire adult life, every government in Nigeria has mouthed the platitude of economic diversification. Whether military or civilian, every administration has gone to the Aso Rock Villa screaming her determination to wean Nigeria of oil dependency from the rooftops. Such administrations wax nostalgic about the groundnut pyramids of Kano, the rubber and palm oil days of the Edo/Delta axis, the cocoa plantations and other cash crops of the southwest. You hear of the abundance of solid minerals that we need to tap into all over the country. And patati. And patata. To the best of my knowledge, no…

Tuesday, 29 November 2016 03:31

A leader must always remain relevant - Bamidele Ademola-Olateju

Olagunsoye Oyinlola was governor of Osun State. I met this respected politician at the airport. He was ahead of me on the queue. I was directly behind him and his company - a young, polite gentleman. I noticed many people stopped by and prostrate "gbalaja" for him. I had no idea who he was. Suddenly, one unruly guy came and stood in front of him. I was aghast! We exchanged glances, then he spoke; "What a rude young man." I smiled knowingly and something cautioned me not to accost the man. Soon, one of Air France staff approached us and…

Sunday, 27 November 2016 15:21

Goodbye, Fidel Castro - Reuben Abati

The death of Fidel Castro was long expected and when it finally came on Friday night, there was very little surprise across the world. He was 90, and in August, he had himself predicted that he would not live beyond 90. He had been sick for about ten years, compelling him to hand over power as Cuba’s leader in 2006. It is instructive that Castro’s death, like his life, was attended by divided opinions. No other man has been more controversial in Latin America and indeed in the whole of the Americas in the last 50 years. He was hated…

Saturday, 26 November 2016 16:04

Buhari, Jonathan and the loyalty test - Reno Omokri

I read Buba Galadima's warnings to President Muhammadu Buhari in which, in pretty much the same way as the President's wife, Aisha Buhari, he warned the incumbent to mend his ways quickly because the masses of Nigeria had abandoned him. I was not very surprised at the strong rebuke that came from the Presidency especially as Mr. Galadima raised the specter of 2019. In a harsh overkill that said more than it intended to say, the Presidency descended on Buba Galadima and, in a Freudian slip, confirmed the President's desire for a second term when the statement said "suggestions that…

Page 254 of 263

Opinion

More...

Search

Most Read

News

Business

Politics

Opinion

Features

Strangely

Crime

Wars

SCIENCE & TECH

SPECIAL REPORTS

Sports

VIDEOS