Author: Emmanuel Odimba

Opinion: Arewa Consultative Forum – A People in Self Denial

28Jul

By Emmanuel OdimbaNo Comments

Fulani Herdsmen, News, Nigeria, Religion, Security, Terrorism

Opinion: Arewa Consultative Forum – A People in Self Denial

The Arewa Consultative Forum on Wednesday kicked against what it termed "Criminalising the Fulani. This is a fallout of the atrocities committed by herdsmen in Nigeria in recent times. My first reaction to the position of the ACF is, what was their position when militants from the south south were branded " Niger Delta or Ijaw militants " or when the IPOB were branded " Ibo criminals"? Was it that everyone from those regions were part of those groups? Secondly is it not true that cattle herders in Nigeria are predominantly Fulani's? Most importantly what has been the effort of the ACF at curbing the activities of the criminals that have been identified as Fulani herdsmen? Has the reaction of the FG not always been that of making excuses about these herders being foreigners and mak...

Opinion: Still on the Osun Elections

The gubernatorial election held in Osun State on Saturday has once again brought up the issue of the Independent National Electoral Commission's powers to declare an election as "inconclusive" and the circumstances under which it could so declare. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended clearly spells out the condition under which a governorship candidate can be declared winner of an election. Section 179(2)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution provides: “A candidate for an election to the office of a governor of a state shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being two or more candidates- (a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election;and (b) he has not less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in each of least two-thirds of ...

Opinion: Still On Adebayo Shittu’s Service Scandal

I am taken aback by the line of defence proffered by Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu for skipping National Youth Service. Is the man kidding Nigerians? I have heard the man speak on various occasions and consider him intelligent. I however consider his reason for deliberately skipping the National Youth Service as one of the most silly and unreasonable arguments I've ever heard from a lawyer. His argument is said to be that having been elected into the Oyo State House of Assembly at age 26, after law school, he felt that was "National service"! Maybe the "Honourable Minister" should revisit the N.Y.S.C Act. Is the Honourable Minister telling us that Mrs Kemi Adeosun who was Ogun State Commissioner for finance and later Minister of finance should have claimed...