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Opinion

Tuesday, 17 January 2017 02:09

Philip Adekunle at 50 - Reuben Abati

Long before the democratization of the blogging culture among Nigerians and the viral spread of opinionitis on social media, Philip Adekunle’s Nigeria Village Square (NVS) was one of those early platforms that provided opportunities for the free exchange of ideas on Nigerian affairs - from books to technology, money matters and the foibles of politicians. And the conversations that evolved were animated, rich, enlightening. Thanks to Big K’s industry, NVS became a social media institution for many Nigerians who just wanted a forum where they could discuss, argue and let off steam. Big K made the space lively, open and…

Monday, 16 January 2017 02:59

Buharists and the Nigerian condition - Moses Ochonu

The price of kerosene has skyrocketed to N500 even as the product remains scarce in most parts of the country. The price of cooking gas, which was N3000 when Buhari took over, has more than doubled to N7000 in some parts of the country. Of course petrol has almost doubled in price to N145 and they are talking about another price increase. Response from Buharists: but the Northeast is safer. The Naira is in free fall, flirting with N500 to the dollar. Dollar scarcity bites and has all but halted economic activity. A woefully mismanaged and chaotic exchange exchange rate…

Sunday, 15 January 2017 02:58

President Buhari, Pastor Adeboye and Gov Fayose - Reno Omokri

Three weeks ago, Pastor Enoch Adeboye was in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state and while there, he praised Governor Ayo Fayose for defending his people from foreign Fulani herdsmen. The next day, the All Progressives Congress insulted Pastor Adeboye in the media and accused him of commending Fayose for pecuniary reasons, claiming he may have been bribed (you see, the only weapon the APC has is anti-corruption, and when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail). Shortly thereafter, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria forced Pastor Adeboye to retire as General Oversee of the…

Saturday, 14 January 2017 02:26

Restoring lasting peace in Southern Kaduna - New Independence Group

Over the last 37 years, Kaduna State has witnessed numerous violent conflicts, most of which are ethno-religious in nature. Contest for domain controls, resources and religious supremacy has led to the burning of places of worship, homes, markets and public property. Institutions of higher learning, which ought to be immune to the irrationality that fuels these conflicts, have many times been the theatres of war, as the College of Education riots of 1987, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria crisis of 1988, and the Federal College of Education violence of 2000 indicated. Notable places like Zagon Kataf, Kanfachan and Zaria, among…

Friday, 13 January 2017 02:41

As Obama readies to bow out... - Jideofor Adibe

Barrack Obama, 44th President of the United States and first African American to hold the top American job, delivered his farewell address to Americans yesterday (January 10) from his adopted home state of Chicago. Speaking in front of a crowd of thousands in a speech he entitled: ‘It Has Been the Honour of My Life to Serve You’, many in the crowd were said to have got emotional, including Obama himself who reportedly had to reach for his handkerchief a number of times. Obama is expected to hand over to Donald Trump on Friday, January 20. Obama’s farewell speech appeared…

Thursday, 12 January 2017 02:31

2017: Through the populist looking glass - Jim Watson

The main question at the start of the year is whether the post-1945 world order, now in its eighth decade, can be sustained once US President-elect Donald Trump takes office this month. To address that question, it is essential to understand how sustainable Trump’s power will be. A new year is supposed to begin in hope. Even in the darkest days of World War II, New Year celebrations were sustained by the belief that somehow the tide would turn toward peace. There was vision then, too. Writing after the fall of France in 1940, Arthur Koestler insisted that the “whole…

Wednesday, 11 January 2017 11:50

Buratai, soldiers and cows - Tola Adeniyi

This battered landscape called Nigeria is a funny place. The so-called leaders are so zany that they make you wonder whether some of them just recently escaped from Professor Lambo’s Aro Mental Hospital Abeokuta. I don’t mean to say they are mad or suffering from some degree of lunacy. That will not be appropriate. Leaders cannot be madmen, or the other way round, madmen cannot be leaders. I don’t want to get confused: madmen cannot be leaders but leaders can behave like madmen. When I was growing up in the 40s and 50s there was a great slapstick comedian in…

Wednesday, 11 January 2017 04:36

Before Abuja Airport is shut down - Reuben Abati

A few years ago, the Federal Government of Nigeria shut down the Port Harcourt International Airport to carry out what they called repairs or was it renovation? It was supposed to be an exercise for a few weeks, but it took more than an entire year. Flights were diverted to an airport in the city at great cost to travellers, but the so-called renovation took forever. The Port Harcourt airport became a grazing field for cows, at other times, a vehicle-driving field, and for more than one year, travel to Port Harcourt, one of Nigeria’s most strategic cities was a…

Tuesday, 10 January 2017 02:37

Northern Nigeria: The making of another generation in poverty - Hir Joseph

I'm still on it in same passion: that the next generation of Northerners escape the poverty coming. The passion for politics and the "sweet" wave of packages that come with it: compensations, settlements, appointments, loyalty and sycophancy, zoning, rotation don't generate anything for competitive wealth creation. I still fear the North is producing just the next generation of politicians and their blind miscreants. The love for public/civil service has done same. It is a region of ex-generals, ex-perm secs, Directors; ex-govs, ex-Heads of State - too many to count. Yes, welcome to the home of poverty. In same country, the…

Monday, 09 January 2017 16:26

Buhari: Democracy in full bloom or autocracy in the ascent? - Sat Obiyan

There is the argument, for example, that the real reason why supplementary elections in Rivers State have been delayed for long is because of the fear that the ruling party in the state is well positioned to win. The idea, therefore, is to wait for an opportune time when circumstances would favour the state opposition party. While this position would be most certainly refuted by the INEC and the Federal Government both of which have always given insecurity as the cause of delay in concluding the elections, the point needs to be made that it is dangerous and fatal to…

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Monday, 09 January 2017 03:12

Of Saharareporters, Aisha Buhari and 'turn by turn' - Moses Ochonu

This is how public figures get themselves into trouble unnecessarily. They get unnecessarily defensive and enter the default denial and evasion mode instead of responding directly, clearly, and contritely to allegations made in media reports. Saharareporters' accused the Nigerian High Commission in London of spending the commission's funds on the visits of Mrs Aisha Buhari, mentioning in particular the purchase of air tickets for her entourage, the provision of accommodation, and other expensive services even while failing to fulfill its obligations to Nigerians in the UK on account of "lack of funds." If anything, the report was an indictment of…

Sunday, 08 January 2017 17:12

Payment of N5,000 by FG creates an officially recognised ‘begging class’ - Dele Sobowale

“If we were a soft society then we would already have perished. A soft people will vote for those who promised a soft way out, when in truth there is none. There is nothing Singapore gets for free, even our water we pay for…” Lee Kuna Yew, in ‘FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST’, p 53. On Saturday December 31, 2016, at the residence of the publisher of Vanguard, on a shelf was a copy of Lee Kuan Yew’s global best seller which many people had written and talked about – but few ever read. It was time to read it…

Sunday, 08 January 2017 02:25

El-Rufai: Compensation of foreign killers and the looming danger - John Danfulani

What will be the fate of Nigerian federalism when affiliating clusters dabble in functions constitutionally assigned to the uppermost tier of authority? In the first week of December 2016, Nigerian media space was decorated with headlines of the news that Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State admitted to identifying, linking and compensating killers of Southern Kaduna people in the neighboring countries of Niger, Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Senegal. Vanguard, on the 3rd of December 2016, reported that Mr. El-Rufai stated: “We took certain steps. We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of…

Saturday, 07 January 2017 15:51

Tribute to Pastor Enoch Adeboye - Ebun-olu Adegboruwa

At the RCCG Annual Ministers Thanksgiving this morning, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, announced his retirement as the General Overseer of the church. The Church is now to be led by Pastor Obayemi, as the new General Overseer, Pastor Funsho Odesola, as the new Church Secretary and Pastor Adeyokunu, as the new Church Treasurer. This is sequel to the new legal requirements set up by the Financial Regulations Council, guiding all registered churches, mosques, CSOs. They have a maximum period of twenty years to lead their organizations. In retirement, they are not permitted to hand over to their families. I met…

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