When the voice of humanity reverberated in a man, by Owei Lakemfa
Across the world, countries, movements and groups on Thursday August 13, 2026 marked the centenary of Fidel Castro Ruz, the iconic Cuban revolutionary. That was yesterday. But Fidel is not yesterday’s man. Although he marched into the full embrace of history on November 25, 2016, he is a man of today as […]
Just how competent is Buhari’s Presidency?
A NEWSPAPER headline last week Thursday, November 3, 2016 declared: “Retrogression, Order Of The Day Under Buhari – NANS”. The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, issued a statement lamenting the suffering that students and parents have been experiencing since President Muhammadu took charge of the country seventeen months ago.
To concession is more responsible than to borrow $29.9bn
President Mohammed Buhari’s request dated 25th October 2016, for Legislative approval, to disburse the sum of $29.9bn, between 2016-2019, from an anticipated external loan package, was the first notice of government’s intent to commit to, arguably, the largest borrowing in Nigeria’s fiscal history. Media reports suggest that the funds will be deployed to improve agriculture and redress severe infrastructural deficit in selected parts of the country; so far, the criteria for project choice and location are not yet known and there are already suggestions that the project spread appears lopsided.
Why the social protection programme will continue to fail – 1
The president had announced the Social Protection Programme, SPP, with the sort of hyperbole expected of people still having a hangover from the promises made during elections. According to Buhari, “I am happy to formally launch, by far, the most ambitious Social Protection Programme in our history.
Reuben Abati’s Aso Rock demons have devoured him
And to this Norman Cousins, one of America’s best known editors, had added that: “Wisdom in people consists of the anticipation of consequences.” They both wrote long before Reuben Abati was born, but they might as well be writing for him. Reading the article he wrote talking about demons in Aso Rock, one cannot help feeling sorry for him. By global, not just Nigerian standards, he is intelligent and can be persuasive with his erudition.
Biafra this, Biafra that
Dr. Charles Soludo, Professor of the Economic Sciences, former Economic Adviser to the President of the federation, and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, very recently said at a book launch on the subject of Biafra that ignoring the new Biafra secessionist movement will be a mistake by the Buhari administration. I couldn’t agree more. Soludo just amplifies the position which this column has consistently taken in the past, and which I wish to reaffirm today. The Biafra movement is a slow-burning fire at the moment.
