THE call for National Conference has received several reactions, including opposition, from Nigerians. Those opposed to a National Conference fall into three main categories: Those who subscribe to the doctrine of “settled issues”, those who say it would be used to dismantle the Nigerian state and those who believe that it is aimed at further weakening the stranglehold of the North on the nation.
THE Igbo say that you can tell a blind man that there is no oil in the soup. But you cannot tell him that there is no salt or pepper in the soup. It is self evident that Nigeria is in a serious turmoil. In the last 12 years angry Nigerians have wielded as much illegal guns against the country as the Nigerian Armed Forces wielded during the civil war.
LAST week, the Minister for Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, was meeting with some stakeholders in trade and investment, and I presume, some investors too. As usual the issue of cost of doing business in Nigeria came up.
I CAN imagine that the question on everybody’s lips now is: is this the beginning of the end prophesied for Nigeria? Can Nigeria make it to 2015? If Boko Haram has infiltrated the government and the nation’s security agencies, as President Jonathan admitted, can the nation hold together?
FOR laughing out loud, a general problem is no problem. People just need to adapt and adjust. There has been a warning since last year about global economic problem in 2012 close to the depression in the 30s. Countries are making adjustments. Nigerians don’t pay attention to serious issues like they do to English soccer league and Brazilian hairs. It’s here!
THE recent national strike has brought to the fore two striking issues, our hypocrisy as a people and the need to re-examine the way we live.
ONE of the phrases I have come to hate nowadays is “lesson for Nigeria”. I have really had it up my hairline; I want to puke! Everybody is now an (unsolicited) expert on “lesson for Nigeria”. If a President is assassinated somewhere, they jump out, “lesson for Nigeria”!
PERHAPS the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, was acting according to conventional wisdom by ignoring the needless controversy started by the National Assembly over the new licence and vehicle identification number plate scheme.
ON November 17, 2011, President Jonathan inaugurated a 21-member Presidential Committee on the Review of Outstanding Constitutional Issues. Forget our penchant for long-winded, convoluted titles; this is a Constitutional Review Committee! It is an abbreviated Constitutional Conference!
ONE of the most profound statements I have come across in recent time is that we cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are! Every time I reflect on this maxim, I end up asking myself whether in truth, we Nigerians really want to make progress and become the developed country that we want to be.
DURING his time, the late Dele Giwa once wrote that we were fast becoming an un-shockable society. I am afraid that the doomsday of Dele Giwa’s prophecy is here. The first time the extremist group, Boko Haram, unleashed violence on the nation, we were all horrified.
DURING the 1996 Images of Africa festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, there were many cultural events showcasing the beautiful cultures of Africa to the rest of the world.
