Public Affairs Analyst

In a short while from now, another round of constitution amendment exercise will ensue. This will be coming on the heel of the success of the one concluded on January 10, 2011 when President Jonathan signed the 1999 Constitution amendment into law. In that exercise conducted by the sixth National Assembly, about 30 amendments were successfully carried out between 2009 and 2010. Most of the amendments bordered on electoral reform and only few, such as those that give financial autonomy to the National Assembly; Amendment to section 145 and 190 of 1999 Constitution making it compulsory for President and Governors to formally write to the national and state assemblies when they are going on vacation or unable to discharge the function of their office; and the one that recognized the National Industrial Court as a superior Court of Record, were some of the few non-election related alterations. Over time, agitations have soared for a new constitution which will derive out of a sovereign n...

Jigawa State is located in the North-West geo-political zone of Nigeria. It was created out of the old Kano State on Tuesday, August 27, 1991 and has 27 Local Government Areas. Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JISIEC) is one of the 36 State Independent Electoral Commissions in the country. JISIEC on February 18, 2012 conducted elections into the Chairmanship and Councillorship positions in all the LGAs of the State. Ahead of the election, I was one of the 4-man team that conducted trainings for the Electoral Officers, Assistant Electoral Officers, Head of Departments of JISIEC and the Collation/ Returning Officers appointed by the Commission. The trainings which were held at Jigawa State Hotel, Dutse between February 7 – 9, 2012 afforded me opportunity of examining the State Electoral Law and Guidelines for the Election. In this piece however, attention is focused on the campaign finance provisions contained in the legal framework. JISIEC operates with State Independent ...

I did my National Youth Service at Delta State during which I visited the Warri Refinery to see some fellow Corp members. During my visit, as soon as I got close to the vicinity of the refinery, I noticed a palpable change in the air I breathe. It was heavy and unnatural. This was attributed to the unabating gas flaring in the environment. In Nigeria, it has been impossible to stop oil companies from gas flaring due to government indulgence. Despite its negative health implication, it would seem that gas flaring is the least of the many worries of Nigerian government. What with the frequent oil spills in many of the Niger Delta areas? The latest of such occurred on January 16, 2012 when Chevron’s KS Endeavor exploration oil rig in the Funiwa field exploded. The affected areas include Kolo Ama I and II, Akasa, Sanagana, Fish Town, Fropa, Ekeni, Ezetu and Lobia - all in Bayelsa State, and with a combined population of some 500,000. Despite the barking of the Senate Committees on Environ...

The new Acting Inspector General of Police, M.D Abubakar was seething with palpable anger as he addressed Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) whose commands are in charge of operations and Criminal Investigation Departments (CIDs) on Monday, February 13, 2012. He dressed down his officers and men and pungently tongue-lashed them. He accused them of corruption, incompetence, unprofessional conducts and countless other ‘sins’. Abubakar noted that police duties had become commercialised and were provided at the whims and caprices of the highest bidder. In his words: “Our men are deployed to rich individuals and corporate entities such that we lack manpower to provide security for the common man; our investigation departments cannot equitably handle matters unless those involved have money to part with it. Our police stations, state CIDs and operation offices have become business centres and collection points for rendering returns from all kinds of squads and teams set up for the be...

There are many evils bedeviling Nigeria’s civil service. They range from lack of professionalism, inefficiency, indolence to truancy. Towering above these is corruption. I hasten to concede that there is a sizeable number of conscientious, dedicated and highly professional employees in the service. However, like the saying goes, “The true rule in determining to embrace or reject a thing is not whether it has any evil in it but whether it has more evil than good.” For quite some time now, the incidence of ‘ghost workers’ and pensioners has been plaguing the Nigerian civil service. Many staff and pensioner audits conducted by both the federal and the state governments have substantiated the claim that accounts and pension departments of many ministries, departments and agencies are a cesspool of corruption. A few examples will suffice. A news medium, Daily Times , in its December 19, 2011 edition quoted the Commissioner for Local Government Affairs in Niger State, Garba Tagwai, as saying...