Lessons From Osun 2026 and the road to 2027: Parties, personalities and the coming contest (2), by Usman Sarki
The first part of this article concluded with the observation that while all politics may indeed be local, the economic hardship confronting Nigerians today is anything but local. But before examining how these conditions may shape the 2027 elections, the Osun experience invites us to confront an even more fundamental question: what exactly do our political parties […]
Falsehood and empty promises will not end recession
Buhari was speaking the day before to people that were tagged “creative youths”. One only hopes they had brains as well. He also vowed to continue to blame past administrations. Whether that was a threat or promise is difficult to say. But, to Buhari’s stubborn insistence to continue to bore Nigerians, a late Vice President of the United States, Hubert Humphrey, 1911-1978, had given the appropriate riposte as far back as 1965 in Madison Wisconsin, on August 23.
Pa Yakassai spoke for the parasites
WHAT is “restructuring” in the context of the Nigerian political discourse? In simple terms, it means removing the centralised, “federal” system put by the military political class in our constitution in 1979 and 1999. It means allowing the federating units to have more of the economic, social and political powers currently concentrated in the Centre. These powers made the Centre so powerful as to confer quasi-colonial authority on those who control the centre. Yet, it rendered the Federal Government so inefficient and indolent as to turn Nigeria into a state that does not work; a virtual failed state in spite of its humongous potentials.
Let us leave this Europe alone
NIGERIA is in dire financial straits. Nothing better typifies this than the free fall of the Naira in an import- dependent country. Between 2013 and 2014, the currency was quite stable at N160 to the dollar.
Where is the $7bn CBN placed with 14 banks?
“The report of 14 Nigerian banks which were appointed by CBN as “Asset Managers” of Nigeria’s reserves was carried on back page of The Guardian Newspaper of the October 5th, 2006. Festus Odoko, the CBN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, confirmed in the report that “already deposits worth $7bn representing part of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s “share of foreign reserves” presently estimated at about $38bn had been released to the banking consortium”.
The futility and irrationality of revenge (8)
To start with, when Gowon came back to Lagos, some top federal civil servants were surprised at the scope and depth of concessions he made to Ojukwu. Consequently, they advised him, wrongly, not to implement it because, in their opinion, the agreement was “unworkable.” Given that the Aburi summit essentially affirmed the structure of governance in the first republic which worked so well before the coup of January 15 truncated it, the only reasonable explanation of their negative stance was myopic selfishness motivated by desire to preserve their exalted positions in Gowon’s government.
