Browsing: Column

In effect, authorities failed overtime to harness the energies, the risk taking and inquisitive nature as well as inventiveness of its burgeoning youthful population. They were busy twiddling their thumbs while danger lurked.

Now let’s proceed. The status of the Peoples Democratic Party presently is pretty much like a vessel sailing on the Atlantic engulfed by the raging tempest of zoning. The Party’s very survival beyond 2023 depends singularly on the ability of its leadership to appreciate the existential nature of this problem and to devise the strategic seamanship required to bring the vessel successfully to berth at shore.

Lives had been lost in scores, countless public and private properties burnt, there was murder and mayhem everywhere. So it was needful that all former leaders of the country meet to put heads together, and fashion pragmatic ways forward.

At about 2pm the intruders broke into my house and looted it to the ground leaving only the bare floor. All the toilets, baths, pumps and indeed every imaginable fitting were removed as were items of furniture, clothing, a huge collection of mainly rare, out of print books, documents and historic photographs.

Commenting on the Nigeria nation-state, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, wrote as follows: “It has been estimated that there are about 250 national or ethnic groups in the country – each with its own distinct language…’ In any case, there are ten principal national groups namely: Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik/Ibibio, Kanuri, Tiv, Ijaw, Edo, Urhobo, Nupe etc. These ten and the other national groups, who are still to be identified separately, are diverse in their origins, and speak different languages. In many respects, their cultural patterns, political institutions, social standards and customary usages differ very widely.” (Awolowo: 1966).

During two recent off-cycle state elections in the south of Nigeria, for example, the US Embassy threatened to invoke visa restrictions on candidates, agents or security officials who impede the electoral process. It was not an empty threat and the junket-obsessed political elite knew it.

Another trend that the pandemic brought forth is expatriates returning to their respective countries due to job loss or other reasons. This reverse-globalisation goes hand-in-hand with the sudden rise in the demand for local goods and services.

We know the people who caused these destructions. We know our people have a hand in it. Some of us even cheered them on at the early stages. Abakiliki people are now the fall guys

The state authorities insist that persons were injured and that there were no corpses; may be just one. They made it sound as if one person dying was nothing to worry about. Nigeria is a country of over 200 million people. When one person dies, it is hard for the people to notice. The state does not even care.

In the last one decade of my life as a humanitarian worker and crisis communicator, working closely with the media, the security and response agencies, I have found out that many crises situations are triggered by reckless statements, irresponsible behaviours and unnecessary confrontations.

It is extremely easy for the #EndSARS campaign to be seen only in the context of Nigeria but that will be a fundamental mistake. #EndSARS may have started as a protest against police brutality, but it goes much deeper than that. It is symbolic of all the societal ills of poor governance and the determination of the youth to reverse the trend and take their country back.

Like the smile of the crocodile which hides evil intentions, the Nigerian military, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, wore peace-keeping camouflage and uncaged its smiling crocodile of death at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza, Lagos, to eat up innocent Nigerian children.

Saworoide is Kelani’s eloquent metaphor of the festering governance crisis in Nigeria, a vote of no confidence on contemporary model of leadership and a ramp-up of the abysmal failure of state. It is the outcome of a breakdown of the pact between citizens and their rulers. Through the symbolism of a brass bell ritual, tantamount to modern day constitution, succeeding kings in the ancient town of Jogbo are bound to their people. However, despotism, mis-governance, illegal ascension to power, inordinate ambition, the criminality of the ruling elite, upheavals in the system and illegitimacy become an oxymoron on a Jogbo people who were forced to react to a cruel strain of bad leadership.

However, the 60 sports icons named by the ministry of sports caught my attention. It is important to state that the idea is noble and highly commendable because we are not used to appreciating our heroes not only in sports but in other spheres in Nigeria.

Lagos belongs to us all. No other state has this unique combination of people living in peace, harmony and progress so it saddened me when I went round for an on-the-spot assessment to ascertain the level of destruction to public assets and private properties.

We call him Eddy. Nobody seems to know, nor has anyone cared to ask whether the name Eddy is Edwin or Edidiong in a short form. He is simply Eddy. Case closed!

In other words the take away is that NNAMDI KANU instigated Igbo in Lagos to attack Lagos in the name of protest for #ENDSARS. As an Igbo political leader in Lagos who has been here for close to 40 years I think history will permit me to speak out and put the records straight before the feeble, weak and senseless narratives create ethnic war in Lagos.

My God! Group of invalids! A congregation of desperate, terminally sick people and their depressed and exhausted relations. Just imagine what that kind of gathering would look like – the groaning, the sighing, the cries, the prayers, the hopeless looks, the stench, the anxieties and the struggles to rush into the water first for the healing. The angel of the LORD only visited once in a while and only the first sick that had people to help them into the pool would receive healing.

Aerial photos of the anti-government marches routinely show an intimidating sea of people furiously demanding change. And yet, it is surprising how little these crowds achieve. The fervent political energy on the ground is hugely disproportionate to the practical results of these demonstrations.

I was as heartbroken and mad as hell as all Nigerians a few hours ago and ready to support the total annihilation of our leaders, but something told me to look AGAIN at all the so-called “evidence” of the massacre being shared all around, and after about five hours of carefully reviewing each “damning” footage or photo, I am NO LONGER USRE THERE WAS ANY MASSACRE.