Observers say that Abike Dabiri-Erewa was so successful as Special Adviser to the President on Diaspora Matters that President Muhammadu Buhari had to create the Nigerian Diaspora Commission to further consolidate the gains of her achievements. While watching the footage of the Nigerian Television Authority’s report of Nigeria’s Diaspora Day 2019 that held, with the theme, ‘The…
Mkpe Abang, who was presented as Editor-in-Chief of an unknown IT & Telecom Digest, recently exhumed the phrase, “Comment is free, but facts are sacred,” in order to service a brief to label an opinion of this writer as “steeped in inaccuracies… deliberate malice, even untruth.” It is necessary to expose his amateurish attempt to discharge a…
This is the season of 100 Days In Office, and it is being celebrated by most of Nigeria’s freshman governors, eager to showcase their achievements. This gives many public relations handlers opportunities to laud the performances of their principals, however modest. The first 100-Days concept came out of “Cent Jours,” or Hundred Days, from the…
The Nuremberg trial of former Senate Deputy President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, reminds one of the challenges of Brother Jero of the immensely hilarious playlet, “Trial of Brother Jero,” written by Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka. The lesson from the senator’s experience is that Nigeria’s political elite cannot hide from their constituents, even outside the country. The…
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, recently announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had set up, and appointed members of an Economic Advisory Council. The council is different from the Economic Management Team headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. The EMT members included Ministers of Finance; Budget and National Planning; Trade,…
This word is for the arrogant people of South-West Nigeria, who (justifiably) bemoan the loss of past glories wrought by their fathers, former Premier Obafemi Awolowo and others, in the education sector of Nigeria. Of a truth, the Awolowo-led government of Western Nigeria introduced the free education scheme that sent many who would have perished…
Many Southern and Middle Belt Nigerians seem to have rejected the RUGA or cattle ranching plan of the Federal Government, partly because of fear that it may be used to import alien Fulani to skew future elections against the South. RUGA is a Hausa word for cow settlements. Another fear is that the facilities may…
The ad hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to investigate abandoned projects by the Niger Delta Development Commission has failed to present its report as demanded by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabilamila. Checks by our correspondent on Sunday showed that only one of the two committees asked to submit their reports by October…
Many Nigerians argue that the Nigerian Constitution is loaded too much in favour of the Federal Government, and it becomes extremely difficult for sub-national governments – states and the local governments – to be economically viable. A recent National Bureau of Statistics report indicates that whereas 21 states were able to attract $14.31bn in the…
A 91-year-old Nigerian corporate titan, who will not like to be identified, called in after reading the text of this column last week. He expressed his opinion on how Nigeria’s subnational governments — state and local governments — can become economically vibrant. Among other things, he argued that the cost of governance in Nigeria must…