Public Affairs Analyst

Year 2009 will be off in few hours, it’s probably 2010 already in Australia. To you all my fans who have been encouraging me through your constructive and largely positive feedback, I say a big thank you. In 2009, I have many reasons to thank the Lord. In April, I clocked 40 and in October, it dawned on me that it’s been 19 years since my first piece was published in Daily Sketch. Today, the little acorn has grown to a large oak. In 2009, I spread my tentacles wider and added four more platforms to publishing my articles. They are The Nation, Daily Sun, Daily Independent and Next. Two Magazines/Newsletters, Women Advocate and Voters News also sought my permission to publish some of my published articles in their media. On the whole, to date, I have been published by 17 national newspapers and 11 magazines and newsletters. In July 2009, with the influence and inspiration from a friend, Sola Adetunji, I established my own blog from where those who love my writings can now read my views o...

Nigeria’s 2010 appropriation bill of N4.079 trillion was tagged ‘Budget of Fiscal Stimulus.’ What a misnomer! Since the budget was presented to National Assembly on November 24, 2009 the media has kept faith analysing and reporting the budget defence sessions of the Senate and House of Representatives committees with various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs). I have followed these analyses keenly and I should say Nigeria is doomed with the current political leadership of the country. Over the years, budget in trillions of Naira have been passed without much to show in terms of human capital or infrastructural development. In a country with more than 70 per cent of the populace living below poverty line, we have a government that has voted N7.066 billion to build an earthly paradise for her Vice President. In the news report on the Federal Executive Council meeting of December 23, 2009, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senator Adamu Aliero justified the need to have ...

After the November 19 impasse between the Senate and the House of Representatives over the venue for the presentation of the Nigeria’s 2010 budget, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abba -Aji presented the appropriation bill to the two chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday, 24 November 2009. The N4.079 trillion budget is the highest in the history of Nigeria; the first that was not read and laid personally by the president and also the first to be presented without fanfare but in accordance with constitutional procedure. The financial statement was also presented same day as the Senate approved additional supplementary budget of N353.6 billion as part of total expenditure for the 2009 fiscal year. This is apart from the initial N3. 049 trillion that was approved by the National Assembly last April for the 2009 fiscal year. In spite of these huge budget proposals, there has been perennial challenge of implementation.In analysing the 2...

Congratulations to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), National Sports Commission (NSC), Presidential Task Force (PTF) Super Eagles players and Nigerians on our recent qualification for the first Football World Cup to be hosted by an African country. The November 14, 2009 qualification was a divine favour coming at a time when the majority of Nigerians had given up on the senior national football team due to its lacklustre performance in the run up to the qualification matches. Also deserving kudos is the Coach John Obuh who tutored U-17 football team that came second in the just concluded cadet championship hosted by Nigeria. The Nigerian lads lost 1-0 to debutant Switzerland at the final played on November 15, 2009. The raging controversy between the NSC and the NFF over the issue of whether to appoint a foreign coach or technical adviser for the Super Eagles is a needless distraction. In my own opinion, the NFF did right by sticking with Coach Shuaibu Amodu as the head of Super E...

Disaster strikes every day. In Nigeria, managing calamities when they occur has been very challenging. There have been plane crashes, road accidents, boat mishaps, building collapse and fire outbreaks that exposed our poor state of preparedness for disaster prevention, control and management. The Nigeria Fire Service is one of the several agencies responsible for disaster management. According to the charter of the Federal Fire Service, its statutory responsibilities cut across: Ensuring safety of lives and property and giving impulse to capacity building of the nation’s fire services through the establishment and monitoring of standards in fire prevention, fire education and training; national fire statistics and promotion of legislative instruments for a fire safe nation as well as promotion of capacity building in the State Fire Services through manpower development, appropriate fire stations and equipment and effective community based fire safety outfits. Among the roles the Ni...

Sorrow can take care of itself, but to get the true benefit of joy, you must share it - Mark Twain Nigeria mass media is in a celebration mood and justifiably so. It is 150 years since Iwe Iroyin fun awon ara Egba ati Yoruba; the first newspaper in Nigeria was published in Abeokuta by late Reverend Henry Townsend. It debuted in 1859. Many newspapers have hit the news-stand thereafter. They include the Lagos Weekly Record, Lagos Standard, Lagos Daily News and West African Pilot. Others include Daily Times, National Concord, Third Eye, Post Express, The Diet, The Comet, Weekend Classique, A.M News and Daily Sketch to mention but a few. What all the aforementioned dailies have in common is that they are defunct. The high mortality rate of Nigeria’s print media made the diamond anniversary of Nigerian Tribune worth celebrating with pomp and pageantry. It is to the eternal glory of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo that Nigerian Tribune was established on November 16, 1949. That Tri...

It is heart-warming to know that the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities has on Friday, October 23, 2009 decided to suspend indefinitely the 4 months old industrial action embarked upon by the union. It would be recalled that government owned universities, made up of 27 federal universities and 35 State universities, had been on strike since June 22, 2009 leaving out the 41 private universities (this is inclusive of the 7 newly licensed). The 2009 ASUU-FG agreement had taken eight years and no fewer than four strikes to conclude and kudos must be given to Comrade Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State for his sagacity in brokering the deal after it was initially deadlocked. It is hoped that government did not sign the October 21 agreement just to avoid the embarrassment of proposed ASUU and other varsity unions’ street protests during the on-going FIFA U-17 World Football tournament. The gist of the signed agreement include the approval of about 50% salary increase for the uni...