Public Affairs Analyst

“Among the areas of attention are the issue of out-of-school children, promotion of adult literacy and special needs education, revival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Technical, Vocational Education and Training, strengthening of basic education, prioritising of teacher education, capacity building and professional development as well as ensuring quality and access to tertiary education and promoting of ICT and library services” —Deputy Governor Phillip Shuaibu of Edo State   while briefing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the monthly NEC meeting on Thursday, October 18, 2018 It is heartwarming that the long-awaited state of emergency in education sector has now been declared with effect from November 2018. The National Economic Council presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently urged governors to declare emergency on education in the 36 states of the federation. It also urged the state and federal governments to allocate at least...

“But when workers go on strike, the principle of ‘No work, no pay’ will also be applied because that principle is enshrined in that same Section 43 of the Labour Act. That section says for the period a worker withdraws his services, government or his employers are not entitled to pay and the period for which they were absent will not count as part of his pensionable period in the public service.” —Labour and Employment Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige, while addressing journalists after the FEC meeting on October 16, 2018 Another industrial unrest is brewing! This is the consequence of last Wednesday’s adoption of the draft White Paper enforcing the ‘No work, no pay’ rule by the Federal Executive Council.   According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, the decision was in compliance with Section 43 of the Labour Act which he said the National Industrial Court had earlier upheld. The draft White Paper was allegedly submitted by a 10-man committee that the minis...

“I want to assure Ekiti workers that I am going to pay all their outstanding salaries and make life comfortable for them and their families.   My re-election as the Governor-elect of Ekiti State was not accidental, but divine intervention…   I want all the civil servants to note that my re-election was not to take vengeance, but to restore peace, transformation and development to the state.” —Governor Kayode Fayemi at a news conference in Ado Ekiti on July 15, 2018 I heartily congratulate Governor John Kayode Fayemi on his inauguration on Tuesday! I welcome him back to his seat, vacated four years ago. Fayemi is indeed a man of destiny, an early achiever who not only excelled in academics but also in development work and governance. He is an academic, journalist, researcher, and administrator par excellence. As he takes his oath of office again, the second time in eight years, at a colourful ceremony in Ado Ekiti, may I use this opportunity to remind him of his campaig...

“Instead of a free and fair democratic ritual, the exercise became an ominous sign-post as thuggery, gunshots, snatching of electoral materials, parallel contests and vote-buying took centre stage.” —The PUNCH editorial, Tuesday, October 9, 2018 The credibility of next year’s general election has been flawed ab initio. For those of us working in the election sub-sector of Democracy and Good Governance, we have often emphasised that election is not an event but a process. There are three phases in the electoral cycle. They are the pre-election, Election Day and the post-election. Among the pre-election activities are party registration, voter registration, strengthening of the legal framework, voter education, procurement of election materials, recruitment and training of election officials, nomination of candidates and campaigns. The Election Day activities include deployment of election personnel and materials, setting up of Polling Units, Accreditation, Voting, Sorting, Countin...

The Crippled Giant is a coinage borrowed from Prof. Eghosa Osagae’s classic book, “The Crippled Giant: Nigeria since Independence”. Although I have not read the book, African Studies Review of the tome says it “is an excellent summary of Nigerian political history…The work is notable for an even-handed analysis of both history and theory. The result is an introduction of the highest quality to the study of Nigerian politics.” I have had the privilege of being invited on several radio and television programmes to discuss Nigeria at 58, including reviewing the President’s speech on October 1; my conclusion is that Nigeria, though a well-endowed nation with great potential, is still a perpetual underachiever. President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech to the nation last Monday lacks statistics. He talked about fighting insurgency, corruption, cleaning up Ogoniland, youth participation in politics and governance, challenge of climate change, his bid to unite Nigeria, support to the Independe...