Besieged Borgu and Their Jagaban, by Ugoji Egbujo
In 2006, when the Borgu Emirate chose Tinubu, it could not have known it was choosing a future commander-in-chief as its chief warrior. Twenty years later, the jackpot looks like rotten luck: no better than a dud cheque. Achebe said a man cannot live by the riverbank and wash with spittle. If only Borgu could […]
Beware of Tomorrow, no condition is permanent
By Dr. Ugoji Egbujo Igbos say tomorrow is pregnant. Amaechi means no one knows tomorrow. Fate doesn’t pretend not to be fickle. But we never learn. Not the here today , dead and rotting tomorrow scary finality of this earthly sojourn- we know that in all likelihood we will be eaten by worms or vultures. […]
Cash, Carry Politics with Sambisa dollars
At the peak of the campaigns, just before the elections, on one bright day, the OPC laid siege on Ikorodu road. They brandished their guns, their characteristic lawlessness, and their new fatness. They tried to force the people into knowing that president Jonathan enjoyed their support and therefore had the southwest. Many mouths were not left agape by the nakedness of that which was utterly sordid. Because ethnic militias now fight for their pockets while fighting for freedom. Pipeline contracts that had been awarded them were pragmatic for more than security reasons. After all billions were shared yet the pipelines received no respite.
When children tapped on the chest of Generals
Our soldiers are stretched. And when stretched minds snap rebukes are measured, condemnations muffled . They are giving it their all, fighting demons with gloves. The depravity of the other side makes any rule following seem a handicap. We knew something was amiss but we didn’t know that the billions of dollars meant for the war were this footloose. Against the asymmetry and barbarism of boko haram for whom killing and maiming is a compulsive obsession , the waywardness of the ‘boko haram dollars’ was egregious evil.
Buhari’s flaws of passion
He has to abide by judicial pronouncements while he seeks judicial redress, if available. He is not permitted to hold the decision of a competent court in contempt. The president can hold a negative personal opinion about the decision of a court but he is charged by the constitution to uphold the law and promote justice. The law is what the judiciary says it is. Promotion of justice entails not just submission to court decisions but the mobilization of the citizenry to obey the courts and respect judicial pronouncements as a matter of high civic duty.
President Jonathan at the door step of shame?
Benevolent spirits may have cracked his palm kernels but President Jonathan must have nudged them, by being effortlessly self effacing and disarmingly unambitious. The mien and disposition of a lamb amongst wolves alone may leave one with the inconsequentiality, the inconspicuousness, needed to progress untracked by envy but in Nigeria where the humble and hesitant are choked out by the nakedness of ambition and its riotousness , Jonathan was particularly fortunate .
