Ortom and his 23 cars’ ‘bonus’, by Dele Sobowale
“As I talk to you, after I left office, vehicles that were given to me legitimately by government, this government went and seized them in a manner that was not befitting” – Former Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State Last week, former Governor Donald Duke of Cross River declared that military rule was, in many […]
Ambode and Lagos APC need mediators urgently
It had been my deliberate policy to concentrate on matters affecting the Federal Government of Nigeria and to avoid state and local government matters since 1994 when Uncle Sam invited me to join the late great Alhaji Kola Animasaun on this page. Alhaji was the reason I bought SUNDAY VANGUARD for years. Never in my wildest dream did it ever occur to me that I would ever share the same page. His shoes were too big for me; so I brought my own smaller sized joggers. He actually helped me with two pieces of advice when I ran to him after Uncle Sam gave me a starting role. I asked him how to go about it. His reply was short and simple. “Start with facts that can be substantiated; then be courageous and let the facts lead you.” Simple, apparently, but I soon discovered how difficult to apply. He also told me to “face Abuja; don’t waste your talent on state and local matters.” Talent I had little of, so facing Abuja was good advice.
Despite June 12, Babangida was our greatest lawgiver in the last century(2)
There is no Nigerian past officer or leader that you can point at today and say he paid greater attention to Army welfare. General Babangida was in the Armoured Corps as our Commander, but, his approach to professional excellence cut across the entire Army. Everybody came to see him, without protocol; everybody was free with him; you always left him feeling happier than when you went in” – Colonel (ret.), later Brigadier, Mohammed Marwa.
Despite June 12, Babangida was our greatest lawgiver in the last century
There is an abiding tendency in Nigeria to judge our leaders from the narrow spectrum of partisan politics, ethnicity or how one particular event associated with them has affected us – for good or ill
‘If…’
If taking five months to do what other nations require only maximum of four days to finish is regarded as wisdom here, then the two branches of government will have to explain to us and the whole world why none of the 10,000 Health Centres promised to Nigerians had been built despite the fact that a Minister of Health was appointed so late in 2015
Digging up wealth in the South, burying them in the North
Under Buhari in the 1980s, Nigeria expelled Ghanaians – giving rise to the Ghana-Must-Go epithet. Now, as fate would have it, Nigerians are now being hounded out of Ghana. They have Buhari to thank for that
