Public Affairs Analyst

WITH the passage of the amended 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act 2010, the nomination, screening and inauguration of the board of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the release of timetable for the 2011 polls by INEC on September 7, 2010, the stage is gradually being set for the next general elections which may hold January or April 2011. As we are in the season of political declarations and endorsements, it is important to remind our political elite to play by the rule. If the forthcoming election will be adjudged free, fair and credible, all attempts must be made to regulate the influence of money on the outcome of the polls. How political parties and contestants raise and spend money must be closely monitored to ensure that it is in strict compliance with the extant political finance regulations. Political finance covers both legal and illegal sourcing and spending of money in a political process. It also covers the use of State and Administrative Resources...

Nigeria is 50, does this call for celebration? Yes, it does. There are challenges quite alright, what with the high state of insecurity, soaring unemployment and grinding poverty, dearth or near absence of basic social infrastructures such as good roads, potable water, electricity, schools and health facilities. Nevertheless, a philosopher once observed that “life is a tragedy to those who feel; a comedy to those who think”. In spite of our numerous and seemingly insurmountable challenges, there is still cause for us to rejoice on our attainment of 50 years of independence. Nigeria is one of the 17 countries in Africa to have received liberty from their colonialists in 1960. The countries that attained five decades of nationhood in 2010 includes: Senegal, Mali, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mauritania, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo Kinshasha), Central African Republic, Chad and Madagascar. Others include Nigeria, Somalia and Republic of the Con...

“Financial institutions which are poorly governed pose a risk to themselves and also to others and could pull down financial markets. Recent experience in the Nigerian financial market attests to this fact.” SEC DG, Ms. Arunma Oteh at the International Conference on Good Governance and Regulatory Leadership, May 2010 Yours truly is an investor in Nigeria's capital market having bought small units of shares in some of the quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. I had been taken in by the huge return on investment and the humongous profit after tax that many of the companies listed in the NSE declared at their annual shareholders meeting. That was before the bubble burst in March 2008. Today, my shares are not worth the share certificates on which they were written. My personal loss is miniscule compared to many big time investors in the stock market. Many lost millions and probably billions. The total loss is actually in trillions. My sense of loss was relieved on 5 August...

Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey To serve our fatherland With love and strength and faith The labour of our heroes past Shall never be in vain To serve with heart and might One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity. These are the lines of Nigeria’s current national anthem. Sadly, not many Nigerians, including those who are holding public offices, could recite the national anthem, let alone believe in the words. Nigeria is in her year of Golden Jubilee having got independence on October 1, 1960. There have been series of lectures, seminars, colloquia, conferences, exhibitions, debates etc planned in celebration of the country’s 50th anniversary. There is no gainsaying that Nigeria still grapples with the challenges of nationhood and governance. It is doubtful if this state of underdevelopment; anomie and morass were envisaged or hoped for by the founding fathers and mothers of Nigeria. I mean the political, labour and media bourgeoisie who were actively involved in negot...

Daily Sketch Wednesday, 18 November, 1998 You can get through life with bad manners, but it is easier and more honourable with good ones. Character is the only religion there is. Anonymous The late Mahatma Ghandi of India identified what he called seven deadly sins. These are: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; business without ethics; science without humanity; politics without principles and religion without sacrifice of pride and prejudice. It is a truism that ‘the true rule in determining to embrace or reject a thing is not whether it has any evil in it, but whether it has more evil than good’. There is no gainsaying the fact that most of the world nations, with special emphasis on Nigeria are guilty of these seven deadly sins of Ghandi. Gone are the days when good and exemplary character is regarded as a virtue in Nigeria. Moral upbringing counts little and less these days with testimonials not worth the paper on which they were written...

The signing into law of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) law by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, 19 July 2010 is long overdue. The bill which was recently passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly was initially part of the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’s 13 point banking reform agenda way back July 2004. However, the bill was stalled in the parliament until the incumbent Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi re-introduced it at the National Assembly as part of the current banking reform measure which he kick-started in July 2009. The law, to my mind is highly desirable going by the several advantages that will likely accrue to our banking nay financial sector and concomitantly the nation’s economy. Some of the envisaged benefits of the bill as highlighted by the president during the signing ceremony are that: The new law will ensure the stability of Nigeria’s financial sector and stimulate national economic recovery. AMCON, according to ...

This is, indeed, an exciting time for Nigeria. After an initial lull in the preparation for the 2011 elections, two recent events have brought about some animations in the polity - the announcement on June 8, 2010, of the nominees for the chairman and board members of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the successful alteration of the 1999 Constitution by the Senate and the House of Representatives on June 2 and 3, 2010. The presidential nomination and endorsement by the Council of State, of Professor Attahiru Jega and 10 other national commissioners, as well as 19 other resident electoral commissioners to fill the vacuum in INEC has been largely well received, except for the pocket of protests about the partisanship of few of the nominees. Good enough, the President promised to replace all the nominees with party affiliations. This is heart-warming. Attahiru Jega is the first northerner and Muslim to be appointed Chief Electoral Officer of Nigeria. The good thin...