By Douglas Anele Continuing with our analysis of Farooq Kperogi’s submission in his essay entitled “The Intellectual Case Against Nigeria’s Break-up,” the author hyperbolically affirms that “There is no nation in history whose formation was the consequence of democratic consensus. Historically, most nations were formed by conquests, expansionist wars and forceful co-optation, not by consensus.” […]

Nigeria will cease to exist as one country in the foreseeable future unless the dominant northern ruling power block and its enablers recognise the need for serious devolution of powers to the six geopolitical zones By Douglas Anele Similarly, staunch apologists or advocates of One Nigeria often insist that given the robust precolonial historical connections […]

Trump’s emergence as president has proved once again that democracy does not necessarily guarantee that the most qualified candidate would be elected By Douglas Anele In the November 3 presidential election, about five out of six in the total votes with which Joe Biden surpassed Hilary Clinton came from Georgia’s biggest metropolitan cities, namely, Augusta, […]

Now, the rising economic and military power of China is seen by some prominent American politicians across party lines as the greatest challenge facing the country today By Douglas Anele The United States of America (or perhaps the Disunited States of America for a reason that would be explained later) is a nation of fifty […]

By Douglas Anele As usual, in Nigeria the official response to covid-19 pandemic is hampered seriouslyby shambolic health care system, inadequate number and quality of health professionals in the relevant fields, non-existent testing and contact-tracing infrastructure, and conspiracy theories coupled with scepticism in some segments of the population about covid-19. That said, the effort to […]

By Douglas Anele It must be admitted that throughout history individuals in positions of power and influence, especially political and military leaders suffering from undiagnosed and untreated emotional disturbance or motivated by excessive greed and megalomania have done unspeakable evil. So, it would be too hasty and unwise to dismiss every conspiracy theory around covid-19 […]

By Douglas Anele The year 2020 in the Gregorian calendar almost universally used for reckoning the passage of time at the macroscopic level is remarkable for several reasons. To begin with, it ushered in the coronavirus infection or covid-19 pandemic that has directly or indirectly affected almost every human being right now and brought the […]

By Douglas Anele Picking up our analysis from where we temporarily suspended it penultimate week, James D. Tabor questions the alleged supernatural origin of Jesus’ conception through a careful reading of the gospels in the light of his archaeological and historical researches. He suggests that the virgin birth story could be an attempt to address […]

By Douglas Anele Ardent readers of the column, I am suspending continuation of the series entitled “The metamorphosis of religious fiction” by presenting my views on the election of a new Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo which would take place today. The issue is significant to me because as an Igbo I am interested in who […]

By Douglas Anele From experience, I  know that adherents of religion, especially those who benefit from it such as members of the clergy, politicians and others whose livelihoods are connected to the church or mosque, typically respond harshly anytime someone questions the fundamentals of their faith with compelling information and valid arguments. Muslims are the […]

By Douglas Anele That President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral victory in 2015 was made possible in large part by self-styled progressives, hypocritical human rights activists, and politicians who previously scathingly criticised his nepotic, dictatorial tendencies is the clearest indication of the ideological and moral barrenness of Nigeria’s political class and the elite in general. If assessed […]

By Douglas Anele In spite of efforts to clean up the electoral process, rigging, violence and electoral manipulation of all kinds were rampant during the 2007 elections to the extent that late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua frankly acknowledged the glaring flaws in the election that brought him to power that year, which was why he […]

By Douglas Anele At this point, it is time to revert to the title of this essay which claims that it is futile to shame the shameless. Ever since the emergence of party politics in Nigeria by the second decade of the twentieth century, different sets of politicians have manifested varied degrees of shamelessness and […]

By Douglas Anele That the creation of Nigeria by imperialist Britain is founded on a grossly flawed moral foundation and that perpetuation of the colonial amalgam entails prolongation of one of the grossest historical instances of British political gerrymandering in Africa is beyond dispute. One does not need to be an erudite historian like Kenneth […]

By Douglas Anele In an important sense a successful revolution is like the successful delivery of a new baby, and the inconveniences of pregnancy experienced by the potential mother and birth pangs during labour are analogous to the pain and suffering that often accompanies revolutions. But then, just as a pregnancy can be aborted or […]