28 May, 2014

Still On The Chibok Girls: A Nation Without Borders


   That about 300 school girls can just disappear into the thin air of Borno state is as mysterious as it is mindboggling. The Boko Haram insurgents came on that fateful day of April the 14th  to spirit away the young girls from Chibok to God know where. The level of impunity of these guys is just too hard to imagine. They came in a convoy and they left same way. This in a state under the cloud of a so called state of emergency. For criminals too operate for hours in normal times and climes are eyebrow-raising not to talk of during a so called state of emergency. It is obvious the Islamic militants are stealing a march on our security agencies and apparently tying them in a knot. They seem to have better intelligence, mobility, and motivation. 
Our borders are hopelessly porous. These are the same borders that are supposed to be manned by the Customs Service, Immigration Service, and other security personnel. The question that begs an answer is: where are the security guys when convoys of motorcycles and cars move so frefreely across our borders. If they can not spot and intercept a mass movement of people how can they be expected to put a stop to organized gun running across our frontier. If the criminal elements within the country continue to have access to guns and other offensive materiels, it is a no brainer to expect anything less than the current level of criminality and lawlessness currently holding the country by the jugular.

  • Meanwhile #BringBackOurGirls

22 March, 2014

Collective Amnesia


Nigerians are a rare breed indeed. We tend to have the shortest memories of all humankind. You can always bet that a villain today will be the hero tomorrow. A known criminal will always be feted tomorrow. There was a time Sanusi was accusing the National Assembly of getting virtually all Federal allocation of financial resources. He was shouted down by the N.A. In a dramatic turnaround he is being heavily defended by the same N.A especially the lower arm. Ditto for Obasanjo. When he was in government he was hated by not a few for a myriad of perceived wrongs .He was accused of hounding his enemies with the E.F.C.C, and the third term debacle. They called for his head. He is now being invited to be the pathfinder of a party led by his former traducers. Week is really a long time in politics. El-rufai the former minister of the F.C.T was a pariah among the people for being elitist. his enemies cited his destruction of peoples’ homes and business in his pursuit of the F.C.T master plan, his riddance of okada riding business within the F.C.T metropolis, his allocation of plot to his family members on the very last day of his tenure of office. El-rufai has now somehow wormed his way into the peoples’ consciousness as the champion of the masses. It is a dramatic volte face to say the least. Bola Tinubu too was accused of cornering every juicy contract for himself. They said he has the contract for tax collection in Lagos, that his company collects toll on the Lekki-Ajah axis, that he made his wife a senator, his in-law a House of representative member, his daughter the Iyaloja of Lagos etc,etc. Apparently, however, the hoi polloi conveniently refuse to remember all these alleged sins in their desperate bid to oust one allegedly corrupt regime for the other. Saints are in short supply across the Nigeria political firmament. The ugly cream will always rise to the surface in our tolerant clime. The liver to come clean of the tainted political class is sadly lacking within the nation. Old wine continues to be recycled in new bottles. We continue to see the same tired and worn old faces. Nigeria surely needs a clean break with other soiled and sullied political class. The great impediment however, is our collective short memories.

29 December, 2013

Can A Leopard Change Its Spots?

The recent cross-carpetting of the 37 House of representative members has been applauded by some political pundits and their fellow ACN co-travellers. However, a critical analysis of the move shows that the ecampees are politicians who will always behave to type. They would tend to do what favours their political future rather than the interest of the masses who 'elected' them.


For example can anybody name any of the cross-carpeters that sought the opinion of their constituency? One would expect a move this weighty should have been sanctioned by the very people they are supposed to be representing. By jumping ship have their self serving toga been shed and left behind in their old ship? I guess not. Are they now new creatures spotless and clean? Will they now tell naija how much their take home pay packet is? Are they not the same people that constitute the party ACN sees as Nigeria number one public enemy? By changing party nomenclature can it be said they have changed their ways? I believe thye were the problem that IS the PDP. This momentous gamble of theirs is self seeking to say the least. Really, can a leopard change its spots?

06 December, 2013

Mandela | History



Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July, 1918 - 05 December, 2013)

Born July 18,1918 in Mveso,Transkei, South Africa Nelson Mandela the first black president of South Africa died today Thurday the 5th.Nelson Mandela aka Rolihlahla (he who tugs at the branch of a tree i.e troublemaker) and fondly called Madiba,a clan name, lost his dad at the tender age of nine. His father Gadla Henry Mphakanyisiwa was the chief of Mveso "by blood and custom". Mandela who was given the name 'Nelson' on his first day at school by his tea her, joined the ANC in 1942. Nelson Mandela majored on Roman Dutch law at the University College of Fort Hare which was a key institution offering excellent western education to black Africans.It was here Mandela met Oliver Thambo. Mandela dropped out of the Student Representative Council due to activism. He was expelled in 1940 alongside Oliver Thambo. Mandela went back to the village but ran back to town when he discovered his uncle was planning an impromptu wedding for him. He thereafter worked as a guard on a goldmine and as a clerk in a law firm. He later went on to study law at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. By 1948 Nelson Mandela had failed to pass the requisite examinations for his LLB degree. He undertook to take the qualifying exam which would grant him the license to practice as an attorney. He and Oliver Thambo thereafter set up the 'Mandela &Thambo Law Firm' which provided free and affordable legal services. Mandela was also a co founder of Umkhonto we Siswe (MK),the spear of the nation. This was the armed wing of the African National Congress ANC.
Nelson Mandela

MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. Consequently branded a terrorist organisation,the MK was banned by both the US and the South African government. The manifesto of MK published on 16 December 1961 declared: "The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices – submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom.' Firstly, we believed that as a result of Government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalise and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or take over the Government". Mandela along with ten other ANC activists was sentenced to life imprisonment for 221 acts of sabotage and other political offences. He will subsequently spend 27 years in prison with 18 of those spent on Robben Island. Nelson Mandela was released by Frederick W. de Klerk on February 11, 1990. The two shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Having won the April 27,1994 general election, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa first black president on the 10th of May 1994 at the age of 77. He supervised the writing of a new constitution in 1996. Thrice married, Mandela was married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, Walter Sisulu's cousin, from 1944 to 1957. The marriage produced Maditha Thembekile, Makgatho (who died of AIDS in 2005), Makaziwe, and Maki. Madela was married to Winnie Madikizela Madela from 1958 to 1996. Theirchildren together are daughters Zenani Dlamini, the South African ambassador to Argentina, and Zindziswa. Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel the widowed first lady of Mozambique in 1998. Mandela had been down with recurring lung infection no doubt contracted through tuberculosis during his long incarceration.

17 November, 2013

Fumbling INEC


Methink Jega should be removed like jigger. 4 years to organise Anambra election yet the result is abysmal and inconclusive. He is not justifying his pay and Nigerians' expectation. Materials not reaching polling stations,names disappearing from the voting registers,etc smacks of non preparedness and a woeful lackadaisical approach to national assignment on the part of INEC.

Prof. Attahiru Jega INEC Chairman
INEC has let me and a lot of people down. The only good thing from the debacle is the unusual agreement of PDP,LABOUR, and APC that the conduct is way below par. Why is it so hard to conduct election seamlessly in naija. Is it asking for the impossible?