What more deficts the failure of a government than the fact that 11 schoolgirls of federal government college (FGC) Yauri Kebbi state are still in the hands of terrorists after 19 months? This is a sad story and makes one wonder if indeed there is a government in Nigeria. Yes, if there is a government in Nigeria, how is it that the authorities cannot use information and communications technology (ICT) to trace these innocent girls and follow up with military force to rescue the girls in a manner that will ensure that the girls are unharmed? In October 2020, the…
Author: Abubakar Alkali
1. Is OBJ trying to use Peter Obi so that he (OBJ) will be the eventual kingmaker in the likelihood of a very tight Presidential election in 2023? 2. Is OBJ trying to woo the Nigerian youths and young people to his side through Peter Obi and make political capital out of the unsuspecting youths and young people? It is not news that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has endorsed Peter Obi for President as Nigerians prepare to vote in the 2023 general elections. What is news though is that this latest endorsement is different from his (OBJ’s) previous endorsements of…
With no intent to promote the traditional nay permanent North-South divide in our dear country, I find it puzzling that state governors and other leaders in the Southern part of Nigeria seem to accord more dignity to human lives than their counterparts in the North. This is more puzzling when juxtaposed with the fact that human lives in both the North and the South and indeed everywhere on planet earth are the same. It doesn’t matter whether a victim is from Lagos or Zamfara or Ebonyi , human lives should be accorded optimal dignity. Penultimate week, the Lagos state governor…
The NITDA bill 2021 will not lead to the growth of the ICT sector in Nigeria, rather it will empower a cabal to use NITDA as a cash cow. The NITDA bill 2021 places the interests of certain individuals above that of the nation. The controversial NITDA bill 2021, introduced by the minister of communications Dr Isa Pantami to the National Assembly for legislation is reported to have been given a fast-tracked hearing by both the senate and House of Representatives. As a matter of fact, the bill is said to have passed the 1st and 2nd readings within 2…
The Way Out. For the umpteenth time and back to back, our dear Sokoto state has been listed by the national bureau of statistics (NBS) as the poorest state in Nigeria with a 90.5% rate of poverty. The 2022 multidimensional poverty rate analysis by the NBS is unique as it captures other aspects of human development- monetary poverty, education and basic infrastructure among others. As a matter of fact, there is every reason to be concerned on the consistent lead of Sokoto state in the poverty ranking for the part 7 years. It is on record that Sokoto state has…
‘Hoarding of petrol is going on unabated at the private depots and IPMAN wants the pump price of petrol fixed at N200 per litre as a condition to make fuel available. Will the federal government buckle? The current long fuel queues and prolonged crisis in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil industry seem to be heading to a climax of an official increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) a.k.a petrol. The independent petroleum marketers have always used hoarding and artificial scarcity of petrol as a means to force the government into increasing the pump price…
‘ASUU should continue to negotiate with the federal government. Any further strike action by ASUU could potentially push the federal government to mobilise all instruments of the law to finally proscribe ASUU and replace it with CONUA and NAMDA’ Ripe reports have it that members of the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) are mulling another strike action when they were paid pro-rata for 18 days only after their 8 months strike action. Recall that the union called off its 8 months strike action on 14 October 2022. There are feelers that after receiving a half salary for only one…
Nigeria now imports everything including security alerts It is preposterous that our dear country has to wait for another country to issue a security alert before it take things serious. Nigeria’s response to the U.S red flag on security few days ago underscores the nations insatiable crave for foreign products. Recall that Nigeria’s department of state services (DSS) had issued such security alerts in March and April this year and December 2021 but such calls were never accompanied by the rapid response across the country that greeted the recent U.S warning. Yes, the U.S was spot-on to issue the latest…
Both the National Industrial Court (NIC) and the Appeal Court have ordered ASUU to resume classes before any negotiations can continue and before ASUU’s appeal is heard. The matter is now sub judice and any moves to give a deal to ASUU BEFORE they resume classes will run counter to court orders. The federal government should allow the courts to decide this matter to a logical conclusion including but not limited to out of court settlement If there is going to be an out of court settlement or consent judgement, it has to be through the courts. Also negotiations with…
‘Rulings from the learned judges of the national industrial court (NIC) and the appeal court conjoined with the registration of CONUA and NAMDA, have led credence to the widely held belief that the hitherto respected ASUU, could well be on its last throes’ The court of appeal judgement yesterday which ordered ASUU to resume classes as a condition for its appeal to be heard is a step in the right direction. More than anything, the judgement by the national industrial court (NIC) which ruled on the federal government’s suit seeking an interlocutary injunction to stop the ongoing ASUU strike is…
The position of the law on the NO WORK NO PAY RULE. Ordinarily, the question in the title should not be necessary if not for the incessant, traditional and almost permanent strikes by the academic staff union of universities (ASUU). This obnoxious unending strike has made it pertinent to look at the position of the law on not only the payment of salary arrears but also on promotion/continuous employment during strikes. Indeed, ASUU has succeeded in making strikes a permanent feature of the university system with alarming devastating effect on quality of education and the future of our dear country…
Public office holders in developing democracies such as Nigeria usually say almost everything to secure their daily bread, earn their pay and protect their jobs. In certain cases, you may understand their desperation, but when a public office holder and member of the federal executive council, the highest decision-making body in the country tries to insult the sensibilities and collective intelligence of ALL Nigerians in the name of politics, then one will have to be concerned about the apparent tilt of our dear nation to the brink of the abyss. Mr Festus Keyamo, the current minister of state for Labour…
The recent invitation by his excellency Governor Nyesom Wike to the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Sokoto state and former Governor of the state Sen (Dr) Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko to Commission the newly completed Ogbumnu-abali road in Port Harcourt on 9th August 2022 has demonstrated political tolerance from the Rivers state governor. The invitation to the high value APC leader Sen Wamakko by an equally high value PDP leader Governor Wike has reenergised the political debate on two fronts: 1. The growing incapacitation of the PDP in Sokoto state in the run-up to the 2023 gubernatorial elections…
THE DOUBLE- CONTEST SKULDUGGERY: IT CANNOT STAND. A tradition has been established in Nigerian politics whereby top politicians, particularly state governors and senators, engage in DOUBLE-CONTESTS and dummimisation during the 4-year cycle general elections. On this fraud, politicians purchase TWO NOMINATION FORMS. Normally one for Presidential elections and the other for governorship or senate. They sponsor a dummy and stooge to do what they refer to as ‘place-hold’. The so-called ‘place-holder’ holds the senatorial or Guber ticket for them in absentia. They then proceed to the Presidential primary election, which by the way they are sure to lose anyway. After…
‘The winner of the APC primary election for Yobe North senatorial zone and APC senatorial candidate for the zone, Bashir Machina should stay the course in his fight to secure his mandate. He could rewrite Nigeria’s political history and can well be the hero of Nigeria’s democracy’ When the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ruffled feathers and created a state of electoral confusion by forwarding the name of Senator Ahmad Lawan who never participated in the senatorial primary election for Yobe North, was said to have purchased the form (which is alleged to be backdated) for senatorial primaries but never…
The Supreme Court upheld the judgement of the court of appeal sitting in Lagos on 21st July 2016 which approved the wearing of hijab (the Muslim veil) for female students in public schools in Lagos state. By this judgement, the verdict delivered by justice Grace Onyeabo of the Lagos high court on 21st July 2016 is now history and female students in Lagos state can wear the Hijab in line with their faith. The 7- member panel in a 5-2 verdict, held that restrictions on the use of hijab run counter to the provisions of the 1999 constitution (as altered)…
IT IS POSSIBLE! I believe and very strongly too, that our dear nation is in urgent need of new ideas, new approach to fixing the myriad of challenges that we face today. If we are to build the NEW NIGERIA of our dreams, we must be ready to not only challenge the current status quo, but also be willing to change it. I am running for the office of the President in the 2023 general elections under the platform of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) because I want to ensure the security of lives and property,…
Clearly, criminalisation of ransom payment and the apparent failure of government to protect its citizens are not mutually exclusive. The Nigerian senate should enact laws to confront the bandits not those laws that will further push the families of captives in a ‘tight corner’ The federal government comprising of the executive, legislature and judiciary has failed to protect its citizens against bandits and other terrorists. The same government os now mskong efforts to ban citizens from bailing themselves out from the bandits through amendment of the terrorism prevention act 2011 (as amended). What an irony! When anyone is in the…
Does the APC expect Nigerian youths wishing to run for President in the 2023 general elections to use JUJU (African magic) to raise funds and purchase the N100 million nomination form fixed by the APC for Presidential aspirants? With little doubt, the ruling all Progressives Congress (APC) has completed its zoning formulae and zoned its presidency to corruption and impunity. This is clearly the case when viewed within the context of the exorbitant, outrageous, incomprehensible and highest-bidder price tag of N100 million fixed by the APC as the cost of nomination forms for aspirants wishing to contest the 2023 Presidential…
The Renewed Effort Is Just Another Merry-Go-Round Clearly, the good people of Nigeria are not convinced that the federal ministry of communications can successfully complete the SIM-NIN registration it started in December 2020. Obviously, there is no doubt that the renewed effort at completing the SIM-NIN registration announced last week by the federal ministry of communications is just another merry-go-round meant to hoodwink Nigerians that they are serious about the exercise. The renewed effort where the federal ministry of communications gave a deadline of 31st March for all SIMs to be linked to NIN is borne out of pressure from…
It was like tales by moonlight when the news flashed that Governor Bello Matawalle has used Zamfara state resources to buy 260 EXOTIC cars which he distributed to traditional rulers in the state. The reason given by the Governor for this unprecedented gift to the traditional rulers is for what Governor Matawalle called ‘the contribution of traditional rulers in maintaining peace in the state. This action of Governor Matawalle is distasteful especially when juxtaposed with the fact that during the same period, the Oyo state Governor bought 100 operational vehicles to equip the local vigilante corps popularly called Amotekun. The…
The invincible Super Eagles of Nigeria deserve the support, encouragement and prayers of ALL Nigerians as they take on the Black stars of Ghana in the second and deciding leg of the World Cup qualifier to decide who goes to Qatar 2022 between the two countries. The first leg played 3 days ago at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi Ghana which ended goalless (0-0) was a vintage Ghana – Nigeria football match. The classical match was entertaining as both teams played safe and avoided fatal errors that could prove dear. I was personally very impressed with the way our Super…
Who Laughs Last In This All-Important Football Match? For football fans, it is yet another epic battle as the first leg of the two-legged double-header between the traditional, historical and bitter football rivals, the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Black Stars of Ghana comes up tomorrow Friday 25th March 2022 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi Ghana: kick off 19:30 GMT (8:30 pm Time in Nigeria) The second leg comes up four days later on Tuesday 29th March 2022 at the national stadium Abuja kick off 17: 00 GMT (6 pm Time in Nigeria). The match, affectionately referred…
President Buhari Seems to be the Glue that Holds the APC Together. Will the Crisis- Ridden Party Exist After his Tenure on 29th May 2023? In 1986 during the famous Spycatcher trial, a former MI5 operative Peter Wright got infuriated that his concern about the infiltration of the British secret service by the Soviet Union has been largely disregarded. The spy went ahead to sign a contract to publish a ‘tell all’ book about his concern. In the trial that followed to stop the book, British cabinet secretary Sir Robert Armstrong made a statement in evidence which was NOT…
No Criminal Bandit In The North-West Has Been Prosecuted/Convicted By Nigeria’s Extremely Weak Justice System Despite The Killings Going On In The Zone Unabated And Arrest Of Several Bandits By Security Agencies Over The Last Few Years. Jurisdiction On Prosecution Of Cases Of Kidnapping/Banditry Lies With The Federal Government Not With The State Judiciary. Military Tribunals Should Be Set Up To Try Cases Of Kidnapping/Banditry. Despite The Endless Killings By Bandits, No State Government In The North- West Zone Has Deemed It Fit To Set Up A Judicial Commission Of Inquiry To Investigate Any Killings With A View To…
First published 14/11/2020. Reposted 07/03/2022 with substantial updates. Recent events have yet again, established the fact that Nigerian youths are on the verge of taking over power at centre in the 2023 elections. It is no longer a matter of IF but WHEN the great Nigerian youths will take over power in Nigeria More than anything else, the frustration of Nigerians over the last 23 years with the way the tired old generation has steered the ship of the nation to this abysmal situation has underscored the fact that Nigeria needs a new crop of young and vibrant leaders.…
Did Dr Isa Pantami Lie In The Cv He Submitted To Futo To Obtain The Professorial Award? What Asuu Should Do To Cement It’s Position On Dr Pantami’s Case It Is About The Integrity Of Nigeria’s University System Religious Sentiments Should Be Taken Off The Table. The widely publicised ongoing case of alleged professorial fraud involving Dr Isa Pantami, the Minister of communications and digital economy is now in court. No thanks to the federal university of technology Owerri (FUTO). Recall that the awarding university, FUTO, has instituted a lawsuit against the academic staff union of universities (ASUU)…
BANDITRY: NIGERIA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WHERE BANDITS/KIDNAPPERS USE MOBILE PHONES TO NEGOTIATE RANSOM PAYMENT AND THEY ARE NOT TRACKED. ‘The concern of the federal ministry of communications is to create a so-called National Data Protection Board (NDPB) but not to establish a digital system that will track, digitally demobilise and work with the security agencies to arrest bandits who use mobile phones to negotiate payment of ransom’ It beggars belief as to how a kidnapper will abduct his victim at gun point, take them into the forest and use a MOBILE PHONE for 6 months or…
Mallam Saidu Faskari, a farmer who looks to be in his mid 80’s from Faskari, Katsina state, hit the headlines last week when a video showing him removing his house’ roofing sheets to pay ransom to bandits went viral. Mallam Saidu Faskari needed to remove his fairly-used roofing sheets for resale or auction to enable him pay-off the N100,000 ransom money demanded by bandits for his son’s release. Nigerian news today Watching the video will easily get you in tears as the helpless old man stood rather dejectedly, narrating his ordeal as a Nigerian. The frail-looking old man confirmed that…
The N-Power programme is indeed a laudable one initiated by the Buhari administration to impart skills on interested Nigerian youths to enable them gain permanent employment or become employers of labour themselves by setting up micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The scheme was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari on 8 June 2016, as a part of the National Social Investment Program, (NSIP) to provide a structure for large scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development and to ensure that each participant will learn and practice most of what is required to find paid-work or set up…
