Nigeria Lacks Elite Consensus

Despite having a constitution that should be the grundnorm of the polity, Nigerian elites lack a consensus on what Nigeria should be. So says Dr. Reuben Abati, principal anchor of Arise TV’s “The Morning Show,” and former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan. Abati should know about the disjointed and…

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Thoughts about Birthdays

Being a birthday celebrant today, May 12, is an opportunity to respond to Richard Oshiomhole, a friend and journalist, who unapologetically declared that he doesn’t mark, or even remember, his birthday sometimes. But celebrating, or marking, a birthday is a given to some people, and they always acknowledge the arrival of yet another one. For…

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Arrogance of ‘need to Know’

Dr Reuben Abati, former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan and principal anchor of Arise TV “The Morning Show”, is at it again. He has made yet another profound statement. For a man who has spent a substantial part of his professional life in the media, you can understand his…

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Standing Politics on Sophistry

You should be disappointed at the disingenuous cacophony of confusion by various elements of Northern Nigeria to derail the laudable thrust of the Asaba Declaration of the Southern Governors’ Forum. The attitude of the Northern political establishment is derived from the mass communication framing theory which suggests that an audience processes information according to the…

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Failed State That Is Working

Somebody, likely a cynic, said Nigeria is a failed state that is working. This, because the indices of a failed state are evident in Nigeria, though the political and economic structures have not quite collapsed. America’s Council of Foreign Relations thinks that Nigeria has degenerated from a weak state to a failed state because of…

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This Constitution Review Can’t ‘werk’

The constitution review process, enabled by Section 9(3) of Nigeria’s Constitution which says “An Act… for the purpose of altering the provisions of… Section (9), Section 8 (on boundary adjustment and creating new States and Local Governments) or Chapter IV (on Fundamental Human Rights) shall not be passed” except by four-fifth of the National Assembly…

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Politicians’ Gab of False Prophecy

A friend sent the following to a WhatsApp group platform: “A man asked his wife why she always calls him, ‘My African President,’ and she responded, deadpan, ‘Because the things you promised me, you have never done!’” Nigerian politicians, especially of the Fourth Republic, are wont to making promises that they have no intention of…

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