TO be or not to be, that is no longer the question. It is no longer if, but when this “dreaded nightmare” will land on hapless Nigerians, making life just a little more miserable. So, after all the vacillation; the undiplomatic double-speak; after all the postulation and grandstanding by senior government officials; the “plague” is now upon us.

NIGERIA’S election reform process is faltering. The 2007 election was a disaster for the country, in more ways than one.

By Oke Epia From indications in the last one month, it appears President Umaru Yar’Adua has the interest of the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s resource-rich wetland, at heart. The other day, national lawmakers nearly fell over themselves in a bid to outdo one another in pouring accolades on the President for achieving the commendable feat of […]

THE Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kutigi, was livid! His lordship could not help but exclaim: “What manner of country is this that senior advocates of Nigeria could lend themselves as willing tools in the hands of desperate politicians to bring the judiciary to disrepute.”

THESE sections of our Constitution and several judicial authorities were drawn to the attention of Justice Shoremi and his brother judges of the Court of Appeal, and yet these appellate judges held that the position of chief of staff to a governor and commissioner in the State Executive Council were neither civil nor public servants even in the face of section 208(d) which expressly includes an appointment to “any office on the personal staff of the governor” or section 318 which defines civil service of a State as including “service of the government of a State in civil capacity as staff of the office of the governor, deputy governor or a ministry or department of the government of the State assigned with the responsibility for any business of the government of the State”.

THIS is not the best of times for those of us in opposition in Kwara politics. And since Kwara is a territory conquered by one family, there has been heavy traffic of erstwhile comrades at arms towards the ruling dynasty. There is no Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State.

THE interview by Dr. Udoma Bob Ekarika in Weekly Insight headlined, If I had been the governor I would have done better, made an interesting reading. It is interesting that Ekarika has come out of over two years of political hibernation to foul the political atmosphere with his diatribe against Governor Godswill Akpabio who had trounced him and 49 others in the PDP primaries in the state to pick the coveted ticket of the party.

By Yushau A. Shuaib Advancement in technology has eased the tasks of meteorologists in providing near accurate predictions on weather conditions and environmental changes in given societies. The technology is applied for forecasting and early warning alert systems as it has gone beyond mere weather forecast. Some latest technologies are being deployed to detect likelihood […]

An Abuja High Court has given an order restraining Prof. Chukwuma Soludo from parading himself as the PDP candidate for Anambra State in the February 2010 governorship election.

THERE has been so much noise on the “cleaning up” of the banking sector with the replacement of some bank chiefs. One area which most people have ignored is the huge sums (tax payers’ money) put in the ailing banks and the impact on society.

By  Richard Tosanwumi THE exercise of the surrender of weapons by the Niger Delta freedom fighters or militants, depending on the side of the divide to which one belongs, as part of the amnesty granted to them by President Umaru Yar’Adua has come and gone. It was adjudged very successful by a cross-section of Nigerians. […]

IT was sometime in late August this year. The place was London. The people – a diverse group of prominent Nigerians which included a sprinkling of professionals and businessmen – were engaged in what Nigerians do so well: Discussing and disagreeing about current issues in the country.

THIS is not the best of times for those of us in opposition in Kwara politics. And since Kwara is a territory conquered by one family, there had been heavy traffic of erstwhile comrades at arms towards the ruling dynasty.

THE petitioners’ witnesses on the other hand had testified that the respondents did not resign their appointments at all or as prescribed by law. Orji (the governor) having not appeared at the tribunal at all nor called any witness to testify on this point was held to have failed to deny the allegation which the Tribunal then had no difficulty to find and hold to have been proved by the petitioners. In holding that the governor and his deputy did not resign their appointments in the public service of Abia State as required, the tribunal did not lose sight of the documents

FEW people gave it much of a chance. At best, Yar’Adua’s amnesty plan for Niger Delta militants appeared like one of those gimmicks successive Nigerian governments dish out at regular intervals to bamboozle or hoodwink Nigerians while governments do everything but govern. The Niger Delta war had raged for years.