Public Affairs Analyst

“PDP, APC primaries: Dollar, Naira rain for delegates” was the screaming headline on the front page of Saturday Punch of December 13, 2014. In the elucidating new story, the newspaper reporters across the country gave graphic details of how party delegates that voted in the 2014 political party primaries were heavily induced with money to influence their choice of candidates.    According to the newspaper, amount ranging from N100,000 to $7,000 were shared out to some of the delegates. It reported that “The delegates that participated in the just concluded primaries of the ruling People’s Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress across the country have been laughing to the bank following the huge amount of money some aspirants reportedly paid to them.” The newspaper reported that the aspirants sent some of the money to the delegates through the leaders of their parties and that apart from the money, incentives such as promise of automatic employmen...

It’s the last day of 2014 and preparations are in top gear as Nigerians join the rest of the world to usher in the New Year 2015. Quite interestingly, it won’t come simultaneously as places like Australia and New Zealand that are hours ahead of the rest of the world would be the first to have a taste of the New Year. While New Zealand is some 12 hours ahead of Nigeria, Australia is +10 hours ahead of us. Well, it’s been a year of mixed grill in Nigeria. Whichever sector one picks to analyse, it’s a guarantee to find three things – the good, the bad and the ugly. The year opened with celebrations for Nigeria. We rolled out the drums and celebrated our centenary anniversary with pomp and pageantry. There were symposia, home and abroad, on the 100th anniversary of Nigeria’s amalgamation. There were photo exhibitions, gala and award nights where 100 eminent Nigerians were honoured, there was the N100 commemorative note and in Abuja, a Centenary Estate is being built in remembrance of th...

I am happy, very excited, not about tomorrow’s Christmas shindig but about the new National Health Bill which President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law on December 9, 2014. Health, they say, is wealth and a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. For those familiar with the “Israelite journey” of the bill at the National Assembly, its signing into law is a worthy Christmas gift from Mr. President to Nigerians. This is the second time the National Assembly will pass the bill as President Jonathan withheld assent when it was first passed, necessitating another legislative review of the all-important bill. All is well that ends well and I add my voice to hundreds of others who have appreciated the President for this wonderful act. What actually is the health Act all about? The Act, experts say, seeks to provide a framework for the regulation, development and management of a National Health system and set standards for rendering health service in the country. Some of the accruing benefits...

It is yet the season of the year many see as one of love, caring and sharing. I am sure many of my readers have received greeting cards (printed and soft copies), hampers, salary bonuses, and other gifts from family, friends, employers and well-wishers. It is also the season of carols as various music cantatas are organised to celebrate God for His mercies and blessings over our lives and situations. Father Christmas grottos have also sprung up as children tax their parents to sponsor their visits to see Santa Claus for their own seasonal gifts. In this season also, homes and houses wear new look as they are decorated in preparation for the Christmas Day in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Incidentally, it also a season of violence: both domestic and external. Externally, because it is a festive period, a lot of crimes and criminality also get committed. Bandits, rightly or wrongly, believe that a lot of people have money this season and make themselves unwanted guests at m...

Hearty congratulations to the new Comptroller General of Prisons, Dr. Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu. I do not envy him on this appointment coming on the heels of incessant jailbreaks and attacks on Nigerian prisons with the last one being at the Minna Maximum Prison on Saturday, December 6, 2014. Against these unhealthy developments, I think it is high time we fast tracked justice sector reform part of which is prison reform. I have two key suggestions. Let us privatise and decentralise Nigerian prison system. That is the norm and trend in some countries particularly in the United States of America which has federal, state and private prisons. Indeed, American private prisons are about 100 as of March 2014. I am therefore seeking the repeal of the Nigerian Prisons Service Act as well as a constitution amendment for these to happen. Why? There is a blatant inefficiency in the management of the Nigerian prison system. Jailbreaks have now become a recurring decimal so much so that it is no lo...

It’s the Yuletide season again when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and everyone thereafter rejoices at the grace of seeing the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. While the world celebrates, I am sure the number of Nigerians who will roll out the drums has shrunk significantly, no thanks to the current high cost of living and the ceaseless acts of insecurity across the country, especially in the North-East. Many a time, I’ve been tempted not to listen to news or read newspapers again simply because of the large dose of negative heart-rending news Nigerians are daily being fed with by the media. But how will I be informed of happenings around me if I shut down on news? I know for a fact that this is the dilemma of many Nigerians. A majority of us are tired of the sad new stories we get every morning. This is not the breadth of fresh air this government promised us in 2011 before the elections. What we were told was that we would not need to buy or fuel generators...

In a well-researched and scholarly article on the back page of Thisday newspaper of November 4, 2014, human rights lawyer and a senior advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, dissected the illegality of the action of Nigerian political parties in charging political aspirants Expression of Interest and Nomination Fees. The exorbitant amount which is in millions of Naira is prohibitive, discriminatory and exclusionary. It must be stated that this is a major way by which political parties in Nigeria fund their operations. For instance, as at November 4, 2014, Peoples Democratic Party is reported to have raked in over N3 billion from this exercise. (See The PUNCH of November 5, 2014.)   Barrister Falana’s sound legal argument against collection of nomination fees is as follows:   “To ensure some degree of popular participation in the electoral process political associations which intend to transform into political parties are not required to meet stringent conditions. In the sa...

“Nigeria’s presidential, parliamentary and state governorship and assembly elections, scheduled for February 2015, will be more contentious than usual. Tensions within and between the two major political parties, competing claims to the presidency between northern and Niger Delta politicians and along religious lines, the grim radical Islamist Boko Haram insurgency and increasing communal violence in several northern states, along with inadequate preparations by the electoral commission and apparent bias by security agencies, suggest the country is heading towards a very volatile and vicious electoral contest” –International Crisis Group (November 21, 2014) Many have asked me why I have not joined any political party or contested any elective positions in Nigeria. My simple response to such persons has been that I do not have what it takes to favourably compete in Nigerian politics. In terms of age, I am qualified to contest even for the presidential seat of this country. Academic...

Hearty congratulations to The PUNCH newspaper on its meritorious award as the 2014 Newspaper of the Year by the Nigerian Media Merit Award. My felicitations also go to the Daily Editor, Martin Ayankola, and the Editor, Sunday Punch, Toyosi Ogunseye, as well as other staff of the company who recently won awards. I am proud of my association with the numero uno newspaper in the country and pray for continued excellence in the service of our suffering motherland. In a two-part report published on November 8 and 15, 2014, Saturday PUNCH a sister publication, did a research where it reported that governors’ lodges are costlier and better funded than the academic institutions of most states in Nigeria. According to the paper, “the cost of building many government houses in Nigeria is far higher than what it takes to build many universities in the country with some state houses gulping as high as nine times more than the cost of building a university.” Holy Moses! The newspaper’s invest...

On October 17, 2014 while playing host to the House of Representatives Committee on Education led by Hon. Aminu Suleiman, the Kaduna State Governor, Mukthar Yero allegedly asked the National Assembly to consider passing a legislation that would compel policy makers in the country to enroll their children in public schools. In this interview with Kehinde Adegoke of Daily Newswatch, Jide Ojo , Executive Director of OJA Development Consult, Abuja bares his mind. What’s you take on this proposal? The governor was just echoing the opinion of most Nigerians who are of the view that until government officials’ children and wards are made to attend public schools, then the decadence in our education sector will remain unresolved. Such thought, though sound in logic, is weak on law. How do I mean? It is desirable but unrealistic due to the fact that it will be an infringement on the fundamental human rights of the public officials. Education, we must know, is on the concurrent leg...

The countdown to the fifth general elections in this Fourth Republic has begun and it is barely 92 days to the presidential and National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) elections slated for February 14, 2015. Will there be show of love during the electoral war? In accordance with Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, public campaign is to commence 90 days to the polls hence for the February 14 elections, campaign will officially start on November 16, 2014 while campaign for the governorship and House of Assembly elections scheduled for February 28, 2015 will commence on November 30, according to the timetable earlier released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Many commentators including the electorate have been clamouring for free, fair and credible elections. That is a noble demand and is not unattainable. However, what do we need to achieve that ideal goal? How prepared are the various actors and stakeholders for the 2015 elections? Of w...

“Deputy gov sends stinker to Amosun” was the banner headline on the front-page of The PUNCH of Wednesday, October 29, 2014. The news story chronicled alleged mistreatment of the Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun by his boss, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State. The embittered deputy had on October 24 written a 10-paragraph letter to the governor chronicling all manner of ill-treatments being meted to him and his office. Among them are: starving his office of funds and allocation of old vehicles to his office. According to him, his September and October feeding, out-of-pocket and sundry allowances had yet to be paid while during this year’s Eid-el-Kabir and Eid al-Fitr festivals, funds were released to    government functionaries except him and his aides. He also alleged that seven (now eight) months ago, electricity supply to his official residence was cut off because the state government is owing electricity bills. This has necessitated his spending an average of...

It’s once again harvest time for political parties in Nigeria. With the October 1 publication of Notice of Election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the commencement of party primaries from October 2 to December 11, 2014, it is that season again when registered political parties sell nomination forms to aspirants willing to contest on their respective platforms. Though there are 26 or thereabout of them officially recognised by the INEC, with the current realignment of forces through decampment, mergers and alliance formations, it would not be out of place to say that though we have a de jure multiparty system in Nigeria, however, we have a de facto two party state.   The two dominant parties at this time is the old war-horse, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the new bride All Progressives Party (APC) . A lot of furore has been generated by the recent publications of nomination fees by the PDP and APC. A lot of persons including some aspirants ...