Those living in extreme poverty anywhere in the world constitute the living dead. Nigerians caught in the poverty trap exist in a hell on earth of their own. There are safety nets in some countries, regular subventions of resources to help the destitute cushion the impact of poverty. Not Nigeria; here, the poor are on their own. Instead of helping them government uses them as smoke screen to fleece the country through fraudulent Social Intervention Programmes, SIPs, and “Tradermoni” given to “party stalwarts”. Despite all the attempts by the Buhari administration to bury the truth, it just keeps popping up all the time.

JAMES Macpherson was the father of Sir John Macpherson, a former governor-general of Nigeria, who handed the baton of office to Sir James Robertson who was our last British ruler before independence. He noticed how many times his Scottish brethren went to war against the English and have ended up defeated.

THE Harvard Professor and expert on 13th and 14th century Europe, one of whose books I read only after finishing the VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, left several historical insights from which Nigerian leaders and their advisers, as well as My Fellow Countrymen/women would benefit if only we read history – or anything else for that matter.”

IT is not just in politics that seven days can become a long time. Even in national  economies, seven days can alter the fate of a nation for a long time to come. Most oil-producing nations of the world experienced the most rapid surge, in percentage terms within the first week after the Yom Kippur War between Arab countries and Israel in 1973. Suddenly, crude oil which fetched thirty cents a barrel skyrocketed to $3 (1000%), $4 (1333%) and $5 (1667%) on account of drastic supply reduction imposed by the Arab countries. Nigeria earned more oil revenue in a week than the aggregate revenue of oil and non-oil exports in the previous year. So sudden was the bonanza Gowon’s government did not know what to do with it. What they eventually did is still affecting our economy till today.

FOR almost twenty years General Motors, GM, was the largest company, not only in America, but in the entire world. GM sat on top of the Fortune 500 companies for so long during which there was “no vacancy” at the top. All the other contestants were vying only for second place. Today GM is no longer the company presidents fear to offend. Others have taken the coveted top spot.

News of Mayetti Allah’s support for their Life Patron, President Buhari falls into the “dog bites man category”. It would have been startling news if the herdsmen fail to approve of the only President who ever allowed them to kill, rape and commit arson with impunity. In the process, they sent over four thousand of fellow Nigerians, mostly farmers to the grave.

THE story published in a national newspaper on December 30, 2018 elaborated by pointing out that “The Federal Government-owned refineries lost N96.34bn in the first nine months of this year compared to N95.09bn in the whole of 2017.” Certainly, unless things have changed in the last quarter of 2018, the refineries alone would have thrown about N132bn down the drain by the time you are reading this article.

TWO  wrongs never make a right – whether in politics or in private relationships. President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria placed the 2019 Budget before the National Assembly, NASS, in late December, approximately three months behind schedule and then had the gall to ask the lawmakers to pass the budget in the national interest. That is bad leadership. A good leader builds with both hands; a bad leader who gives good advice but provides bad example builds with one hand and destroys with the other. When it comes to annual budgets, Buhari has spent the last three and a half years constructing with one hand and demolishing the edifice with the other.

HORACE, 65-8 BC. VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 61. That the people perish for lack of good leadership has been one of the abiding verdicts of history. The Nigerian situation today is proving Horace right. In the last three months, I have found myself in several states, east, north, south and west – Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kogi, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Niger, Ed,. Imo, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and of course Lagos. There is a common thread linking all of us in this country today.

Ageing Robert Mugabe exhibiting the senility and imbecilities of some old people stubbornly refused to leave office even after 80 as his country headed into economic abyss and destruction. Eventually, the people who hitherto had allowed him to have his way had enough. He is now spending the rest of his days in quiet obscurity. That is a typical African leader for you. They don’t care if the nation is in ruins as long as they cling to power at all costs.

Good day Uncle Dele. This is the first week of December. The 2019 Budget is yet to get to the NASS. They would soon proceed on Xmas holidays. It’s not even known when it would be presented! 2019 is election year. Most of them would be involved. Who are the policy makers of this administration? What is in their brains? Saw dust? When and how did we offend them? Is this still being caused by GEJ and PDP? Who did we offend in this country Uncle?”

THE two presidential candidates wasted no time releasing their proposals for governance once the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, flagged off the campaigns for the 2019 elections. Both documents were packed full with the multitude of promises for which elections worldwide are known. Most of them will be addressed as we proceed with the campaigns. On this page, however, only the economic policies and their impact on society will be discussed.

THE two presidential candidates wasted no time releasing their proposals for governance once the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, flagged off the campaigns for the 2019 elections. Both documents were packed full with the multitude of promises for which elections worldwide are known. Most of them will be addressed as we proceed with the campaigns. On this page, however, only the economic policies and their impact on society will be discussed.

The rate of change in our time is so swift that an individual of ordinary length of life will be called on to face novel situations which have no parallel in the past. The fixed man for the fixed duties, who in the old society was such a “god-send” will in the future be a public danger— Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947.

BUT the truth is that we  are generally having the wrong discussion. I personally don’t think we have a debt problem, but we have a serious revenue problem, which, if we do not address, will snowball into a debt problem.” Ben Akabueze, Director of Budget in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning. October 24. 2018.