The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government – Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

THE number of meetings Nigerians convene to save their country is impressive. What is disturbing is that these meetings achieve nothing, though some would argue that if things remain as they are, with all the meetings, they would have been worse without discussions about the future of Nigeria.

NIGERIAN party politics since civil rule in 1999 has been dominated by factions, internal crises, irreconcilable differences, open disagreements among members of the same party, especially those in high public offices. Three parties at the starting line – Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the All Peoples Party, APP, later All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, and the Alliance for Democracy, AD in 1999 – morphed at a point to more than 50 parties. Their politics is indiscernible.

IT is amazing how Nigerians arrive at their decisions about how they would vote in the elections that are just weeks away. Neither the presidential nor the governorship candidates are saying why they want to be in office outside the trite line on change. The way things are going, it seems that the candidates are talking about change for themselves, not any of us, on whose behalf they claim they want to be in office.

THERE are great reasons for concerns about Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari, and any doubtful credentials in his forms for the 2015 presidential election. In an affidavit, Buhari told the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that all his academic credentials were with the Military Board.

TWENTY-THREE states — Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara — voted against local government financial autonomy. Their votes meant the required two-third majority required to change the law was not met.

EVERYTHING is possible during campaigns. However, there is a lot that we can learn if we pay more attention to campaigns for the 2015 elections, especially the presidential one, where all the verve seems to b

IN the ingenuity of the politician, the future of Nigeria is tied to elections. When politicians, who call themselves leaders, engage in phased discussions of Nigeria, they are not contemplating legacies that would enhance the development of Nigeria. Their entire concerns are elections, the struggle for power, the decisions about who becomes what, and those marked for nothingness.

AS 2015 begins, people have high expectations. They dream their New Year ambitions. It is an annual ritual that helps brush aside failures of the faded year. The beginning of every year affords deep reflection on the past and the future. Some call these New Year resolutions.

NIGERIANS are getting to the reality that every part of the country wants to free space and whatever resources it can for itself. The arguments are not about who settlers are and who are the indigenes, they are about the fact that Nigerians are now grappling with issues of citizenship. It is an issue that deserves handling with uttermost sensibility and sensitivity.