Congratulations on your victory on the just concluded presidential election in Nigeria. Your victory is a lesson to every Nigerian, that no matter how many times  one has tried hard and yet failed to actualize his or her dreams, that if the person does not quit, does not give up, does not conclude that he or she can never be successful, that if the person remains resolute and committed, success will come. You are a historic and monumental lesson of “Never give up.” 

I HAD written in the past that one of the good things that came out of Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is the absolute freedom for everyone to express him/herself. Now he has gone on to conduct the freest and most credible election this country has ever witnessed at the presidential level. What an irony! A man who never struggled nor sweated for any political office he had occupied, suddenly found himself losing the only one he so desperately worked hard for.

FOR almost eight years, the people of Akwa Ibom have been under the suffocating influence of Barrister Godswill Akpabio, the governor of the state, who, in active connivance of the federal might had subjugated the people to an unbearable level of mental and emotional torture, self doubt and humiliation in the name of governance.

WE the people of Oke Ogun have waited in vain since the inception of regions and states creation to have one of our own son or daughter to be appointed as the chief executive officer of a region or a state, as military administrator or civilian governor. The best and the closest we have had is deputy governor of Oyo State despite the fact that we have always had pockets of individuals that could be considered.

It all started at a Friday social forum where friends had the opportunity to interact and unwind. But this soon gravitated into a discussion about the multiplicity of challenges in Nigeria and how it was difficult to change the status quo. After various arguments laced with mudslingings, reasons prevailed and it was agreed that rather than dissipating needless energy lamenting about our current predicament or cursing inept leaders, we should work within our sphere of influence to see how we can make a difference and engender good governance at the local, state and national levels.

Few years ago, one of my student stood up in the middle of a lecture and asked, ‘Sir, who owns Nigeria?’ I was teaching a topic on colonialism and it could have been easy for me to answer, the British, but that would have been appropriate if only we were still under colonial rule. Its been decades since we exchanged the union jack for the green and white flag to enjoy self-government.

AS Nigeria consolidates its economic dominance in Africa and presses to attain the projected 12th position in the global economy by the year 2050, we need to see that the present decline in revenues due to the slump in world oil prices does not deflect our trajectory to the mid-century target date.

MAJORITY of Deltans have come to see the emergence of Olorogun Otega Emerhor as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the most salutary thing to have happened to Delta State since 1999. Their optimism about Emerhor’s political stance and fortune derives from the stark reality of underdevelopment which successive governments foisted […]

CAMPAIGNING for an end to death penalty is often an uphill task. At Amnesty International, we have done so for decades, since we consider the death penalty to be the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment – and a violation of the human right to life. Every execution we fail to prevent takes […]

On August 15, 1979 the returning officer in the Presidential election, Chief Fredrick Louis Menkiti announced the results of the Presidential election. In the results, Alhaji Shehu Shagari (90) of the NPN scored 5,668,857 votes while Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987) of the UPN scored 4,916,951 votes, Dr.Nnamdi Azikwe(1904-1996) of the NPP scored 2,822,523, Alhaji Aminu Kano(1920-1983) 1,732,113 votes and Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri 1,686,489 votes. After the results were announced Chief Awolowo challenged the results with Chief Abraham Adesanya as his lead counsel while Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide (84) defended Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

SURPRISINGLY, I got my Permanent Voters Cards, PVC, perhaps the most coveted property in the land today, effortlessly. Thanks to the efficiency of very courteous young Independent Election Commission, INEC, officials, it did not take more than five minutes for the much coveted card to be in my possession. Still I did not believe my […]

EVERYONE growing up in the early ’70s to the late ’80s, of the last century must be familiar with the gaming machine called ‘kalo kalo’. It is a lottery type machine where you insert your coin and win money if the right number combination appears. They are still found in present day casino houses and big hotels.

AT the just concluded Presidential election, several painful lessons were evident and emblematic of the insanity of our electoral system. These lessons could have been avoided.

THE crucial political and security situation in the country should ordinarily compel every political office holder to maintain decorum while discussing critical issues affecting the nation. The least expected of any state governor now is baseless, unsubstantiated allegations against the Federal Government or any of its security agencies.The story of a certain Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state is supposed to be a lesson for Nigerians on rumour mongering and audacious accusations without evidence.

MAN has an insatiable and venomously gluttonous appetite for power. Power is authority, prerogative, jurisdiction, force and domination. When political power is given to a man, he uses it autocratically and sadistically to oppress the people and perpetuate himself in office. Hence, in contemporary times there is a disastrous rise of misplaced power. Indeed, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.