Public Affairs Analyst

“The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to effect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies” -   Section 14 (3) of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended.   Love him or hate him, President Muhammadu Buhari is a man of destiny. The trajectory of his life’s odyssey clearly points to that. Mr. President has held different public offices from his youth to old age. He has been a Military Governor, Petroleum Minister, Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, Head of State and now an elected president of the most populous country in Africa. Many would vouch for the president as an honest man hence the appellation of ‘ Mai Gasikiya’ which m...

The parlous state of Nigeria’s health sector should be of utmost concern to all well-meaning compatriots. The country’s health indices are nothing to write home about. Preventable and treatable diseases continue to claim thousands of lives in this clime. Malaria, typhoid, dysentery, malnutrition, high blood pressure, diabetes, meningitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia and many others continue to present health burden to Nigerians. At present, my country has the highest infant and maternal mortality in Africa. A Demographic Health Survey in 2013 allegedly found that Nigeria contributes about 13 per cent of global maternal mortality, with estimated 36,000 deaths annually. James Entwistle, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria while delivering a speech at the launch of the Healthmagination Mother and Child Initiative on March 4, 2016 said there is   excessively high maternal, neonatal, and under-five death rates in Nigeria and said that there are 40,000 maternal deaths per year in Nig...

The forthcoming September 10, 2016 governorship election in Edo State is one of the seven off-cycle elections in Nigeria. Other states with a similar fate are Anambra, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Bayelsa and Kogi. The reasons for this phenomenon are twofold. The first was as a result of judicial verdict arising from proved allegations of stolen mandate at the election petitions tribunals against the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states. Second,the January 27, 2012 Supreme Court decision on the tenure elongation suit of five governors who won re-run elections after their initial victories had been annulled by the election tribunals. In the landmark judgment under reference, the apex court, in a unanimous decision, said the interpretation and intendment of Section 180(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is that no governor should spend more than four years as a tenure irrespective of whether his previous election into the same office wa...

"The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda pledges to leave no one behind. That includes people with albinism. The cycle of attacks, discrimination and poverty must be broken" - Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General On Monday, June 13, 2016 the International Albinism Awareness Day was celebrated globally. Nigeria was not an exception. There were media advocacy and symposium organised by The Albino Foundation, a non-governmental organisation established since 2006 to fight the cause and protect the rights of persons living with albinism. According to the United Nations “People with albinism face multiple forms of discrimination worldwide. Albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically. The physical appearance of persons with albinism is often the object of erroneous beliefs and myths influenced by superstition, which foster their marginalisation and social exclusion. This leads to various forms of stigma and discrimination. In some communities, erroneo...

Thursday, June 9, 2016 is a day to remember in the annals of governance in Nigeria. On that day, three important events took place, all in Abuja. The first was the town hall meeting held at Sheraton Hotels by Centre for Democracy and Development on Buharimeter, which is an online platform designed to track implementation of all the 222 campaign promises made by President Muhammadu Buhari. The second is the celebration of first anniversary of the eight National Assembly while the third is the launch of the federal government Home Grown School Feeding Programme by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo. Starting with the Buharimeter Town Hall meeting which I attended, it was heartwarming to have five of the cabinet ministers of President Buhari coming to give account of their stewardship. In attendance were: Minister of Budget and Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe; Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed; Minister of Information and Culture...

Rebellion cannot exist without a feeling that somewhere, in some way, you are justified – Albert Camus For decades, the Niger Delta region has been enmeshed in all manner of crises – political, social and economic. The volatility of the region arose from absence of good governance in many of the over 500 communities making up the area. There are six states making up the Niger Delta geo-political zone. They are Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Delta States. Outside the zone, other oil producing states include Ondo, Imo, Abia, Anambra and recently, Lagos. I have the privilege of doing my National Youth Service in Delta state and thereafter have been to all the oil producing states on official assignments. What you see in many communities there is poverty in its absolute form. There are no good roads, potable water, electricity, hospitals, and other social amenities. Upon all these, the ND environment is highly degraded as a result of inhuman attitude of many of the...

Last Wednesday, precisely on June 1, 2016, I was among the resource persons at a roundtable organised for judicial correspondents of Nigerian media. The event held at Rockview Hotel, Abuja was put together by a non-governmental organisation known as Law, Media and Social Justice Development Initiative. The themes of the roundtable were “Reporting Court Proceedings by the Media: Uses and Abuses” and “Justice Development in FCT Judiciary.”   Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion were Hon. Justice Ishaq U. Bello who is the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court (he came in company of five other justices of the FCT High Court), Mr. Waheed Odusile, who is the National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Prof. Paul Idornigie, SAN, Chief J. K Gadzama, SAN and Barrister Charles Odenigbo who was the Chief Host. There were five papers presented. I spoke on the topic “Trial by Media: Understanding Implications through Case Studies” In my presentation I ...

  “For too long, ours has been a society that neglects the poor and victimises the weak. A society that promotes profit and growth over development and freedom. A society that fails to recognise that, to quote the distinguished economist, Amartya Sen, ‘poverty is not just lack of money, it is not having the capability to realise one’s full potential as a human being.’” –President Muhammadu Buhari in his Democracy Day speech on May 29, 2016 Hearty congratulations to Nigerians on the 17th anniversary of Democracy Day celebration held last Sunday, May 29, 2016. My felicitations also go to the All Progressives Congress, the new party in power at the federal level and most of the states as well as President Muhammadu Buhari on his first anniversary as a civilian president. For the records, it is the first time Nigeria will have 17 years of uninterrupted civil governance since obtaining independence from Britain in 1960. The First Republic lasted barely five years (October 1, 196...