Public Affairs Analyst

Politicians are a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one long step removed from honest men. ––Abraham Lincoln, in a speech to Illinois Legislature in 1837. Ubiquitous these days are myriad of billboards pronouncing the so-called ‘dividends of democracy’ that a governor or local government chairperson has provided for his or her people. A flip through the newspapers and magazines will inundate you with advertorials on the supposed ‘great works’ of our elected political office holders; the citizenry are equally being regaled with similar stories on television and radio. While there’s nothing bad in a government showcasing its achievements, a critical analysis of these advertised projects will reveal that many of them are either photo-tricks or provided at mind-blowing amount that is not commensurate with the magnitude, quality and number of projects executed. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka rec...

There are three primary motives for writing this article. The first is that this administration prides itself as being based on rule of law, hence it is imperative to hold it accountable to its commitment; second reason is to sensitize Nigerians on the principles of political finance as we prepare for 2011 elections and the third is to alert the National Assembly Constitution review committees to plug the loopholes in our political finance laws as they amend the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2006. At a fundraiser held on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 6 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, a princely sum of N2 billion was claimed to have been realised at the event. However, there are questions arising from the event which need to be addressed. Before raising the posers, let’s refresh our minds about the story. Most of the Nigerian dailies of January 14, 2010 reported the fundraising di...

Since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s 2009 Christmas day botched attempt to bomb the Flight 253 Northwest Delta Detroit-bound Airline, Nigerian officials have been doing their best to absolve the country of any complicity in the infamous act. When on January 4, 2010 U.S. blacklisted Nigeria alongside Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan and Somalia as “countries of interest” and lists Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism, many Nigerians were shell shocked. The implication of the blacklisting is that henceforth, air travellers flying into the U.S from and other "countries of interest" would be subjected to advance screening techniques, such as body scans, pat-downs and a thorough search of carry-on luggage. This is rubbing salt on a festering sore. Nigeria all along has dented international image as hitherto, we are regarded as a country of scammers. Added to this infamy is terrorism. Yet, we aren’t all crimin...

The present state of anomie in Nigeria has brought out some home truths, and correction of many time-honoured errors. Until recently, I never knew that the commonly used coinage 'Federal Executive Council' does not exist in Nigeria's 1999 Constitution. A report in NEXT on Sunday , 03 January 2010 alleged that our Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Andoakaa recently goofed in court when he contended with the legal luminary Bamidele Aturu on the appropriate designation of Nigeria's ministerial council. The latter has gone to court asking the court to compel the vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, to act in the absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua. The justice minister reportedly told the judge that instead of referring to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in his suit, Aturu made reference to the Executive Council of the Federation which, he claimed, does not exist. The plaintiff was said to have insisted that he was right by virtue of section 144 ...

The performance of Nigeria’s economy in 2009 is nothing to cheer. It is more of unfulfilled promises than notable achievements. The year’s budget of N3.102 trillion passed by both chambers of the National Assembly in April 2009 handed out a lot of promises. Two supplementary budgets were later sent to NASS. In July, the first supplementary budget totalling N102 billion was sent to the NASS while another supplementary appropriation bill of N353.6 billion was sent in November. Both were passed but the entire performance level was dismal. In its self assessment while presenting the 2010 budget to the National Assembly in November 2009, President Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua has this to say about the Nigeria Economy: “Notwithstanding the global economic crisis, the Nigerian macroeconomic environment has improved with macroeconomic stability maintained in 2009 due to Government's proactive response to the crisis. As a result, economic growth has remained resilient, with real GDP growth for 20...