Public Affairs Analyst

Nigeria’s education system is in dire need of overhaul. Things are not just right in that sector. Unless something urgent is done to arrest and redress the rot in the system, the country’s future seems bleak. The leaders of tomorrow being prepared by today’s education authorities cannot sadly deliver global competitiveness. From the primary to tertiary level, the entire gamut stinks to high heavens.  Am not being uncharitable with my assessment, the deplorable situation is glaring for all to see. Strip of all pretensions and lip-service, the country’s education sector is in need of redemption. From where do I start to analyse the rot? Have you noticed the avalanche of private schools currently operating in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria? Many of these schools operate in very unsafe, unhygienic, dilapidated structures. Many are also unlicensed and are populated by unqualified teachers who are paid pittance at every month end. In many private schools, both legal and illegal ones, t

I got involved in media advocacy for development 27 years ago. Precisely in October 1990 when due to the pervasive misery in the land I took up the challenge posed by my lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Prof. OBC Nwolise to get involved in speaking out against the injustices, poverty, bad governance and underdevelopment in the country. He had challenged us in Advanced Level Extra Mural  class in 1988 that beyond the street protests, we can actually write opinions for publications in newspapers in order to ventilate our grievances. So to speak, Prof. Osisioma Nwolise nudged me into what has now given me identity; name and face recognition. My gratitude to the erudite scholar. Twenty-seven years ago, I didn’t know I will earn my living in the development sector better known as Non-Governmental Organisation.  I didn’t even know I will one day become a development consultant. To God alone be all the glory for ordering my steps along the path that am now treading. My media advocacy

Welcome back from your medical vacation dear President Muhamadu Buhari. Hearty congratulations on your miraculous recovery from your undisclosed ailment which has seen you out of the country for the better part of this year 2017. I pray that Almighty Allah will perfect your healing. Mr. President, it is heartwarming to listen to you last Monday during your official broadcast to the nation. Though am disappointed that  the much anticipated critical decisions that will energise governance  was not contained in your speech, yet it was not a vacuous statement. You did show grasp of the need to unite to solve our nagging problems inclusive of insecurity. Since Monday, I have been guest of several media houses viz, Vision 92.1 FM, Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of  Nigeria and Arise TV to mention but a few,  where on invitation, I have been analysing the importance of your homecoming, the gist of your national broadcast and agenda setting for you. Mr. President,

On Tuesday, August 8, 2017, Kenya held its sixth general elections since return to multi-party democracy in 1991. Declaring the result of the presidential election last Friday in its Nairobi headquarters, the chairman of the country’s electoral management body known as Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission of Kenya, Barrister Wafula W. Chebukati said the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta of Jubilee Party had a total of 8,215,963 votes representing 54.2 per cent to defeat his arch-rival Raila Odinga of National Super Alliance/ODM   who polled 6,815,971 votes representing 44.9 per cent.  Total voters turnout was 79.4 per cent. The controversies surrounding the elections are still unfolding with the claim by Odinga that the IEBC rigged the election in support of the incumbent, President Kenyatta. Some lives have reportedly been lost to post-election conflict with international community appealing for calm and calling for caution. I have been privileged to discuss the recent po

So many strange things are happening in Nigeria today that give goose pimples. Oftentimes, I ask myself if those who indulge in many heinous crimes reported in the country are normal. There is tendency for many people to think that only those in hospitals or invalids are sick. Indeed, there are millions of sick people who appear normal. They go to school, work and seem to be okay until when something snap in them and they commit a crime that many thought they are incapable of perpetrating. Then their true health status is revealed. Indeed, many Nigerians are mentally sick. According to information gathered from the website of MedicineNet, ”Mental illness is any disease or condition that influences the way a person thinks, feels, behaves, and/or relates to others and to his or her surroundings. Although the symptoms of mental illness can range from mild to severe and are different depending on the type of mental illness, a person with an untreated mental illness often is unable to co

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.                                                                                                    – George Santayana The most trendy news last week, aside the visit of some governors to our ailing president in London, was the fourth amendment of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria by the National Assembly. On Wednesday, July 26, Nigeria’s Senate amended a total of 28 items among the 32 listed for alteration while a day after the House of Representatives amended 21 out of 30 clauses voted on. Since that epochal event took place, I have been privileged to discuss it on some media platforms among them are the Nigerian Television Authority and Silverbird Television. It has been mixed reactions to the amendment. While some commends the federal lawmakers, many others have condemned them.  Those in the latter category did so on the basis that the two chambers failed to agree to pass the clause on Devolution of Powers from th