Category: Opinion - Page 11 - African News Today

Opinion: PDP/Atiku Need SS/SE to Win, We Demand Regional Autonomy for Our Support

9Oct

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: PDP/Atiku Need SS/SE to Win, We Demand Regional Autonomy for Our Support

A Facebook user Baron Roy has opined his view that PDP and Atiku need the South-South and South-East to stand a chance of winning the 2019 elections. His position is that this is an opportunity to place specific demands to offer them this support. He has called on Nigerians from this regions not to throw their support at PDP/Atiku but to use this as a bargaining chip. His position is stated clearly in his post published below: "Don't get it twisted "Let us assume votes would count and INEC would do the right thing by some inexplicable miracle... "The Northern Gambit Despite all, Buhari and his APC would still take at least 65% of the votes in the 12 states of the core North. In the Middle Belt, APC/Buhari and PDP/Atiku shall go head to head. If those are the only regions wh...

Opinion: Ten Years After Lamidi Adedibu by Reuben Abati

4Oct

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Ten Years After Lamidi Adedibu by Reuben Abati

It has been ten years since the self-styled “strong man of Ibadan politics”, Chief Lamidi Ariyibi Akanji Adedibu, died. He died on June 11, 2008. I do not recall seeing many tributes or advertisements in the newspapers or other media commemorating his life and legacy. There was no public lecture or any important statements from those who were his protégés. That this is so is a useful lesson to today’s political Godfathers and henchmen in Nigerian politics who behave as if history has already assigned to them an immortal space on its pages. Lamidi Adedibu was a colossal presence in the politics of Ibadan, and Oyo state for more than 50 years. Ibadan has a tradition of colourful politicians who wielded enormous influence: Adegoke Adelabu, the brilliant orator and intellectually gifted per...

24Sep

By Emmanuel OdimbaNo Comments

Judiciary, Justice, News, Nigeria

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

21Sep

By Emmanuel OdimbaNo Comments

Corruption, Crime, News, Nigeria

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...

Opinion: Open Letter to Ahmed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by General Adeyinka Adebayo

20Sep

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Open Letter to Ahmed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by General Adeyinka Adebayo

My dear Asiwaju, I am compelled to write this open letter to you because of the state of affairs of the Yoruba nation. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge that fate has put you in a prime position to determine to a large extent the direction that the Yoruba people will go. The indisputable truth is that one may quarrel with your politics but your sagacity is never in doubt. Even those who don't see eye to eye with you agree that you are imbued with unusual native intelligence, uncommon people skills and unrivaled foresight. You, more than any other person, has been the game changer since the advent of democracy in 1999. It is for these reasons that I have chosen to direct this letter to you. My singular purpose is to tug at the strings of your heart. I am not writing to appeal to partisan c...

Opinion: Tinubu – What the Most Powerful Man in Babylon Must Know – Fredrick Nwabufo

12Sep

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Tinubu – What the Most Powerful Man in Babylon Must Know – Fredrick Nwabufo

I have been thinking about Jagaban, Bola Ahmed Tinubu lately. I think he deserves an encomium for tipping into the expansive shoes of the sage, Obafemi Awolowo, by forging a united bunch out of disparate broomsticks. But honestly, I do not think he has the intellectual grit, ideological purpose and discipline of the late former premier of the western region. Jagaban has single-handed pulled the south-west under his suzerainty. This is no mean feat. No politician, in the present day Nigeria, has achieved this. As a matter of fact, no politician commands passionate followership or has the same clout as he does. That is why I say he deserves an encomium. In fact, he deserves some accolades. However, I think Jagaban also deserves a bit of cautioning. His empire has gained so much vastnes...

Opinion: I Hope Okija Shrine Did Not Do Permanent Damage to Ngige? – Reno Omokri

10Sep

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: I Hope Okija Shrine Did Not Do Permanent Damage to Ngige? – Reno Omokri

"I hope Okija shrine did not do permanent damage to Chris Ngige’s psyche!" This is a questioned asked by Reno Omokri, former aid to Former President Goodluck Jonathan in response a statement made by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige. Ngige had earlier said "Nigerians should be clapping for us on daily basis, and after thanking God, they should thank us. Yes, because God has used Buhari and some of us to make Nigeria work." See also: Nigeria: God Has Used Buhari and Some of Us to Make Nigeria Work – Ngige Responding to this statement, Omokri took to his Twitter page to make the following statement: "Ngige wants us to clap for Buhari. Do we clap for: Being the world HQ for extreme poverty? For our foreign debt doubling in 3 years? For moving 12 plac...

Opinion: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Response to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

6Sep

By admin1 Comment

Economy, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Response to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

My attention has been drawn to a letter written to Premium Times in response to an essay on restructuring authored by me. Faced with an avalanche of public condemnation for his 360-degree turn on the concept of restructuring, it is understandable that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has written to Premium Times to douse the tension his comments created. However, in doing so, the Vice President should not attempt to revise history by saying that he spoke against ‘geographic restructuring’. I have been in the forefront of the discourse on restructuring since the 1995 Abacha Constitutional Conference and to the best of my knowledge, there has not been any term like ‘geographic restructuring’. It is a strange concept, not only because it is not what the restructuring debate is...

Opinion: Removing Buhari Alone Will Not Solve All Our Problems – Fani-Kayode

3Sep

By adminNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Removing Buhari Alone Will Not Solve All Our Problems – Fani-Kayode

Election fever has gripped our country and many want to be President. Some are serious contenders whilst others are not. Yet the truth is that our problems cannot be solved simply by a Presidential election. It is a good start but it is not a cure all. We need to do far more than just electing a new President if we want lasting peace, if we want to flourish as a people and if we want to grow as a nation. Anyone that believes that removing Buhari alone will solve all our problems is naive and shortsighted. We need to go much further than that. The reality is that the problems of Nigeria can only be solved by having a credible and all-encompassing referendum and ensuring that our so-called federation is properly and thoroughly restructured. Anything short of that means we are simpl...

Opinion: Why Nigeria Under Buhari is World Headquarters for Extreme Poverty – Reno Omokri

3Sep

By admin1 Comment

News, Nigeria

Opinion: Why Nigeria Under Buhari is World Headquarters for Extreme Poverty – Reno Omokri

On Wednesday the 29th of August, 2018, British Prime Minister, Theresa May, visited Nigeria with a plane full of business people to help Britain make money in Nigeria. So meticulously choreographed was her visit, that she came with businessmen and women that sold or manufactured every item you could imagine from air fresheners to Scotch whiskey. Mrs May, who I met twice last year, demonstrated the main thrust of her visit by travelling with David Schwimmer, the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange. Her entourage to Nigeria was chockfull of business and industry folk and very lean on civil servants and politicians. In fact, only two members of her cabinet joined her on her African trip. If there was any spare space on the Royal Airforce Jet that flew her to Africa, that space ...