Public Affairs Analyst

  It’s 72 hours to the seventh consecutive general election in this Fourth Republic which started in 1999. By this election, Nigeria is also celebrating a centenary of electoral democracy. Recall that election was first held for political offices in the country (in Lagos and Calabar) in 1923, after the enactment of the Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution of 1922. Expectations are high that the forthcoming election shall be like none before. As of today, political pundits are talking of three horse presidential race with no certainty on who will likely be the country’s next president after the incumbent. Many are saying it is too close to call and that the presidential race may go into the second round for the first time. The integrity of the 2023 general elections is important because that is what will confer legitimacy on the winners. We once had deeply flawed elections in 2007 that were described as being below not only global standard but also regional standard. The winner of tha...

  Introduction This weekend’s seventh consecutive general elections in this Fourth Republic has been imperiled by the ongoing Naira Redesign and currency swap crises. Not a few political juggernauts have read political undertone to what was initially considered sound economic decisions. In the ruling All Progressives Congress, things have fallen apart as some of the governors of the political party have openly disagreed with the president, Muhammadu Buhari on the handling or purported mishandling of the policy. Even a serving minister, Festus Keyamu, SAN has said openly that the president was misadvised by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele. Some APC governors have dragged the federal government to court on this matter while untold hardship has been visited on the Nigerian populace. There have been protests against the policy in many Nigeria states and lives have been lost and property worth billions of Naira destroyed. In fact, the standard bearer of the rulin...

  The seventh consecutive general elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic hold next weekend and early next month, precisely on February 25 and March 11, 2023. I have been invited to several media and civil society fora to speak on the role of Nigerian youths in the forthcoming polls. There is no gainsaying the fact that this vibrant, irrepressible, articulate, highly cerebral Gen Z who are between 18 and 35 years will determine the way forward for the country at the elections. When that distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique, Frantz Fanon, said in his classic book, “The Wretched of the Earth” that “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity,” he was indirectly referring to the youths of society. The following are what Nigerian youths have been doing in the lead up to the forthcoming polls and roles they will be playing at the elections. As you may well be aware, the electoral cycle is in three phases – Pre-election, election and p...

  It’s 17 days to Nigeria’s seventh general elections in this Fourth Republic which started in 1999. On Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, the Leadership newspaper at its 14th Annual Conference and Awards hosted the former Prime Minister of Kenya and leader of the opposition known as Azimio, His Excellency Raila Odinga. The elder statesman gave the keynote address at the well-attended ceremony where Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was the chairman and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, was the chief host. The royal father of the day was the Etsu Nupe HRM Yahaya Abubakar while Chairman of the Leadership newspaper titles, Mrs. Zainab Nda-Isaiah, gave the welcome address. Others in attendance include captains of industries, bank executives, inventors, technocrats, bureaucrats and other dignitaries and awardees. Raila’s speech was titled, “Credible Elections and an Economy in Transition.” It’s important to note that the form...