Public Affairs Analyst

Recently, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, was interviewed on 90 Minutes, a current affairs programme on the African Independent Television. The minister used the opportunity to shed light on the achievements and challenges of Nigeria’s health sector. Among the giant strides that he claimed the country has made include the extermination of guinea worm and Type 3 polio; significant reduction in maternal and infant mortality; improvement in the condition of service of health workers – nurses can now go on internship likewise, other professionals in the health sector can now get to Level 17, which is the highest in the civil service cadre. He also claimed that some states in Nigeria had met health-related MDG goals. The minister tried to distinguish between health and health care and that he was only in charge of health care and not the health of the citizens. He asserted that while efforts were being made to improve health care delivery in the country, ther...

One of my hobbies is travelling. As the saying goes, travelling is part of education. As I traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria in the course of my job, I always want to document anything of interest that I come across. It so happened that from September 10 – 13, 2013, my colleagues and I were at the Obudu Mountain Resort at Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State for a retreat. It was not my first time there but when I first visited, also for an official assignment in 2007, I was in a different company entirely. I was one of the few who suggested that this year’s retreat should hold in Obudu, more for a selfish reason. I want to have another encounter with nature and also see if those state of the art facilities I saw in 2007 at the cattle ranch are still there. I was not disappointed. My experience on Obudu Mountain was breathtaking, fascinating and newsworthy. As we navigated our way from Abuja, through Keffi, Akwanga, Lafia, Makurdi, Gboko, Vandei...

There are several myths about the last four months of the year popularly called ‘Ember’ months. Many believe that September to December are the most dangerous months of the year. The Pentecostals are of the opinion that it is the period when Satan embarks on in-gathering of souls by causing mysterious deaths, accidents, calamities and catastrophes. They therefore call for lots of prayer and fasting, vigils and organise crusades to frustrate the “plans” of Satan and enemies who do not want them to see the New Year.  Given what we now know about ‘ember’ months, it is quite clear that there are no mysteries about the period. The last four months are the farmers harvest season and a time when a lot of festivities take place. Marriages, burial ceremonies, chieftaincy celebrations, housewarming and many other festivals are often fixed for the last four months of the year because it is assumed that the rains would have subsided.  Many corporate organisations also gran...

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men" – Lord John Dalberg Acton, British historian in an April 3, 1887 letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton. This is not the best of time for the behemoth called the Peoples Democratic Party. The   walk-out of seven of its governors and a former vice president from the venue of its mini-convention on Saturday, August 31 and the formation of ‘a new PDP’   and parallel executive by this break-away faction is an ominous sign for the self-acclaimed biggest and   largest political party in Africa who wished to rule Nigeria for 60 years. In fairness to the party, it has been making frantic attempt to manage its numerous crises since the last general election attempting to woo back some of its members who had left to team up with opposition parties. However, the more the party tries to patch things up, the more things get messier within its fold.   The party in recent time ...

It is regarded as the oldest profession in the world; prostitution whose practitioners go by the name such as harlots, whore, women of easy virtue, commercial sex workers, prostitute, ashewo , etc is a global phenomenon.   It is an act of being paid for sexual intercourse and is considered an illegal act in many countries except for few such as in some countries in Europe where it has been legalized. Wikipedia says “ Estimates place the annual revenue generated from the global prostitution industry to be over $100 billion”. Prostitution takes place majorly at brothels, hotels or residences of the patron.   There is a misconception that it is only the female gender that engages in prostitution, that is not true. There are men who are prostitutes. They are called gigolos. A man who finds customers for a prostitute in return for a portion of the prostitute’s earnings or in exchange for sexual pleasure is called pimp.   In Nigeria, prostitutes are often found hanging or ...