Public Affairs Analyst

Trouble is brewing between the state governors and the Nigerian labour un­ions over the former's attempt to stop paying N18,000 minimum wage to Nigerian workers. The hint was dropped on November 18, after a meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa. In a communiqué read by its chairman, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, also the Governor of Zamfara State, he stated that the dwindling prices of crude oil had drastical­ly affected federation allocation to the states. He said: "The situation is no longer the same when we were asked to pay N18,000 min­imum wage, when oil price was $126 (per barrel) and when oil is $41 and the source of government expenditure is from oil, and we have not seen prospects in the oil industry in the near future". Very good and rational argument. It is a notorious fact that Federal Government since last year declared austerity measures arising from the fall in international oil market. Na­ira has had to...

I have been a keen follower of the political developments in Kogi State. Ahead of the inconclusive November 21, 2015 gubernatorial election, I have been to the state three times on pre-election duties. The first was on Monday, September 14 when Alliance for Credible Elections organised a day sensitisation programme for election stakeholder on peaceful, non-violent and credible election. The second time was in October when INEC Gender Division held a voter sensistisation seminar for Kogi women also on the need for peaceful gubernatorial election. The third time was on November 12 when I was again a resource person at INEC organised Electoral Alternative Dispute Resolution workshop for election stakeholders in the confluence state. The central message in the three engagements was on the need for a non-violent election. As it turned out last Saturday, the election was largely peaceful and well conducted but for the inconclusive end and the unexpected death of the candidate who was ...

I am worried, very worried about the soaring cases of rape in Nigeria. If something is not done and very fast too, we may end up being the country with the highest number of rape cases in the world. There are different categories of rape.   Dr. Wilson in an article simply titled, Rape (http://drlwilson.com/articles/RAPE.htm)   tried to categorise them into Forcible rape, which is any forced sexual intercourse between two adults; Statutory rape, which is sexual intercourse between an adult and a minor (that is someone below 18 years of age); Incest, which is sexual relations or marriage between two people who are forbidden to marry by customs or law; Random or haphazard rape which is rape through a random encounter with someone who is intoxicated with liquor or on drugs or just psychopathic; and   Professional rape which is explained to be carried out by professionals, either alone or in a gang.   “These are used to condition people for brainwashing, for political...

I am a regular traveller. In the course of my work I make several trips across the length and breadth of this country. Each time I em­bark on any journey by road, it's as if am being punished for some sins I or my forebears have committed. The Nigerian roads are just simply impassable. They are deathtraps. It's as if there is no government in place or top government offi­cials never use the roads. Perhaps, because they have government vehicles at their disposal and are also mostly chauffer driven, they do not feel as much discomfort as ordinary commuters feel while using the roads. Road is on the concurrent legislative list, thus the responsibilities for building and maintenance are shared by the three tiers of government. Fed­eral government is in charge of Trunk 'A' roads better known as interstate roads. Trunk 'B' roads are intra-state roads and are therefore to be tak­en care of by the 36 state governments. The 774 Local Government Areas are in charge Trunk...

Congratulations to the new Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, and his Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika. The duo was among the 36 cabinet members inaugurated last Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari. Truth be told, I do not envy these gentlemen! The simple reason being that the task before them is Herculean. Just last month, precisely on October 17, 2015, a travel website that goes by the name, “The Guide to Sleeping at the Airports”, made some startling revelations about the state of Nigeria’s airports. In its 2015 survey on airports around the world, the website rated three of Nigeria’s airports among the worst in Africa while the country also occupies the unenviable position of harbouring the worst airport in the world. According to the report, “Every year, Sleeping In Airports conducts a survey asking travellers to rate their airport experiences based on the services and facilities available within the terminal, cleanliness, customer service, comfort an...

I have a long list of people worthy of being congratulated on their recent achievements. The first is the newly appointed Nigeria's Minister of Youths and Sports, Hon. Solomon Dalong. Others are the record breaking Jighere Wellington of Nigeria who on Sunday, November 8, 2015 emerged the new Scrabble champion of the world ( the first African) after defeating Lewis Mackay of United Kingdom 4-0 in a Best of Seven series in Perth, Australia. Nigeria also emerged as the best team of the championship as five of its six representatives finished in top 50 players of the tournament with Ayorinde Saidu and Emmanuel Umujose placing 16th and 17th, respectively. I also congratulate the Falconet who qualified for next year's FIFA U-.20 World Cup in Papua New Guinea by beating South-Africa 3 –1 on aggregate, also last Sunday. Lastly, my heartfelt felicitations go to the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria who defeated the African champion, Mali 2-0 in an energy-sapping final last Sunday to win the FIF...

A recent news report on the African Independent Television on Nigeria’s solid mineral industry got me thinking. Nigeria is too rich to be poor. Our only poverty, to my mind, is poverty of the mind to do the right thing. How can a country so richly blessed in natural resources be complaining of being broke? Countries like Cuba, Israel and Japan do not have a fraction of the natural endowments of Nigeria, yet they are developed countries by virtue of their ability to think out of the box. I know that many countries envy Nigeria and will like to trade position with us for the gargantuan natural resources at our disposal. They are ashamed for us; indeed mock us, for our inability to harness these God’s gifts for our national development. They term our experience a resource curse. Are we cursed or are we the cause? My humble submission is that we are the cause, and not that we are under any curse. From time immemorial, successive administrations in this country have been parroting the sa...

By the time you’re reading this, all things being equal, the long-awaited cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari would have been inaugurated. As such, the President would have the full complement of lieutenants that would help him run his government. Since Buhari’s inauguration on May 29, 2015, Nigerians have hoped that he would hit the ground running. So far, he hasn’t, and his media aides say he is trying to clear the Augean stable. Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, had this to say in a widely published article entitled, “A new sheriff is in town”, sometime ago: “Some people say the sheriff did not hit the ground running, as he has yet to constitute his cabinet in 100 days. And I usually ask such people: When you hit the ground, and you land in mud, how do you begin to run immediately? You can only sink deeper, if you attempt to run. The thing to do is to first clear the mud, till you get to terra firma, and then you can begin to run.” I hope after five months in the saddle, the ...

On October 16, 2015, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in collaboration with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) organized a one day voter education seminar for women of Kogi State. The event held at Idrinana Hotel in Lokoja had in attendance various women groups which include National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), National Association of Market Women, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) as well as women NGOs. Goodwill messages were delivered by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Kogi State, Hussaini Halilu Pai ably represented by the Administrative Secretary and IFES Deputy Country Director, Mrs. Uloma Osuala.   Three papers were presented at the forum. The first was the Key Pre Election Messages delivered by Mrs. Blessing Obidegwu who is the INEC Deputy Directo...

Fuel subsidy came into Nigeria’s economic lexicon about mid-1990s when the country resorted to heavy importation of refined petroleum products aftermath of inability of Nigeria’s four petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to work at optimum capacity. For more than two decades now, Nigerian state has been supposedly subsidising petroleum products as a mean of cushioning the harsh effect of the high cost of importing and distributing the refined products from overseas.   The argument then was that should the Federal Government totally deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry by leaving the pricing to the laws of demand and supply, the cost of the products will be very prohibitive and it will lead to high cost of living. This does not necessarily have to be so.   However, in Nigeria, petroleum products are central to our lives. There is no household that is not using any of the products. For instance, those using cars, power generators, ...