Is a critic oathed to only hunt for faults? Should he be impervious to hope, optimism and positivity or should he be amenable to fairness, truth and sanguinity – even if the facts are not in harmony with his public posture? It is customary here once you are branded a ‘’critic’’ of the government you are expected to only breathe fire like a dragon – ‘’see no good, speak no good; – just attack and attack’’. This is the fallout out of militarised socialisation – a hangover of military-era opposition. During Nigeria’s military rule, scorched-earth activism/criticism was the definitive approach…
Author: Frederick Nwabufo
Government is a relationship – between the leadership and the governed. A democratic government, in particular, should not operate in vacancy of citizens’ imprimatur. A government needs the trust, support and goodwill of its citizens. Legitimacy is the reward for good governance. Any government, which by intransigence severs the funiculus that links it with the citizens, is taking the highroad to oblivion. Really, most people will not remember the infrastructure and extraordinary projects executed by an administration. But they will remember how secure they felt and the freedom they enjoyed under that government. General Abacha is reputed to have executed…
What fuels an insurgency? The combustible mixture of ideology and ignorance. If a clump of uninformed people has an ideology they can die for, they will do the illogical for it. The intercourse of ideology and ignorance does not follow logic. Insurgency ignites and thrives in the residence of seductive dogma. The Igbo hold life dear. The sacrality of life is ensconced in Igbo cosmology. ‘’Igbu ochu’’ (murder) is considered the most deadly sin in Igbo land. In fact, in the old days where murder is committed, the community will have to proceed on many days of cleansing of the…
At a time when evil spars against good, we must choose a side. We either opt to be a part of darkness or take a place in the phalanx of virtuous knights. Staying taciturn while evil course through the land like molten magma from a volcano does not absolve anyone of complicity. All who keep silent in the face of evil are accomplices. A great pestilence is scourging the south-east. The land is crimson from the blood of innocents. There is fear, anxiety and confusion. A region that was once the safest place in Nigeria is in the throes of…
Matters of volatile quality require statecraft. That which is necessary may not be expedient or practicable under certain circumstances. And it takes statesmanship to discern the feasible moment for applying needed policy prescriptions. Issues of state are delicate – and with a country like Nigeria they are volcanic. When a decision which affects a distinct group is taken by political leaders without consultation and without the exhaustion of the process of dialogue and conciliation that resolution is subject to be interpreted as prejudiced. And most importantly, when the decision involves the dislocation of a people from an age-long livelihood, statesmanship…
The Chinese did not build their prosperous country by abandoning ship when it was turbulent. In fact, it was at a time of great tribulation and uncertainty that the Chinese forged the path for a glorious future. The successful nations today hurdled through moments of topsy-turvy in their history. The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire. If we abandon Nigeria in its time of adversity, who will save it? Nigerians want a better country, but some are unwilling to work for it. The buck is passed, traded and discarded. There is always someone else to blame for the…
When there are murmurs and whispers of a putsch, someone somewhere may be fiddling with the sticks. Where there is smoke, there is fire. Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the hawks and vultures circle seeking supper from anarchy and insecurity in the land. But may it never be said that Nigeria experienced a coup d’état after 22 years of democratic experiment. In political science, coups are often governed by the zeitgeist – the prevailing mood of the time. In the 70s, 80s and 90s coups were fashionable in Africa, and particularly in West Africa. But with the turning…
I once witnessed a macabre execution – early 2000s. It was a quotidian day in Onitsha – except for a sudden alarm jarring everyone grinding away in the day’s humdrum. Thief! Thief! Swiftly, commuters, traders and idlers became vigilantes. They encircled a young man and bludgeoned him until he was lifeless. No questions asked. No trial. No justice – but jungle injustice. There is a ‘’SARS’’ in some Nigerians; reservoirs of cynicism, misanthropy and bigotry. These ones see other people through the bifocals of their own vile existence. Just like SARS, the notorious but disbanded police unit, profiles young Nigerians…
Profiling. Targeting. Scapegoating. In Nigeria, you are more likely to effectuate wry remarks and suspicious stares if you are the prototypical Muslim with full-bred beard, a ‘’decimal point’’ on your forehead – a sign of your devotion to Almighty Allah, and apparelled in modest trousers that stand aloof from the ankle than if you are a Bible-wielding evangelist piercing the dawn quietude of a drowsy neighbourhood with screams and shrieks of ‘’repentance’’. We live in a country that is autochthonously Christianised. Our ways are Christian. It is commonplace to profile Muslims who hold strong beliefs as ‘’extremists’’ but not Christians…
It is the bounden duty of every citizen to hold the government to account. In fact, citizenship is a call to duty – for the state. And there is no compelling duty that supersedes citizens subjecting their employees – the government – to scrutiny and constant vigilance. Criticizing the government is within the rights of every citizen, and active citizenship demands taking the government through its paces. No government is without criticism, and none is too special for criticism. However, we must distinguish between any government and Nigeria as a country. Governments will come and go, but Nigeria remains. We…
We abide in wilful fatalism. We see only doom and gloom about Nigeria. We make cynical projections on our country and hold up to ridicule narratives that do not fit into the gloom-ridden portrait. Blood, sorrow and tears saturate the public discourse as if there is no ‘’light, love and life’’ in any corner of the country. It is all doom, gloom and doom. We could as well be living through doomsday. I must admit, the egregious state of security and the occasional revelries of blood somewhat instigate this negativity about our country today. But are kidnapping, banditry, insurgency and…
Nigeria is at a tempestuous crossroads. It will be a failed attempt at casuistry to play down the multi-pronged encumbrances the country is contending with. All is not well. It appears when attention is turned to one problem, another irritation materialises angling for notice. Nigeria has never been this tried and tested by in situ tribulations since the return of democracy in 1999. Troubling times. While the country is still held in solitary grief by the violent pursuits of Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers, another deadly insurgency rises, like the sun on its most vexed day, in the south-east. Nigeria…
I strongly believe that even if by some stroke of kismet, a referendum is held on the niggling question of Nigeria’s rupturing today, most Nigerians will vote to remain in this comely country. A majority of Nigerians only desire better a nation, not a divided one. The paroxysms of secessionist agitations here and there are only by the vocal minority — the vociferous and insidious minority. What these progenies of anarchy do is to coagulate citizens’ frustration and deploy it for turmoil, anxiety and inter-ethnic collisions. But the silent majority love their country; though they may be dissatisfied with the…
We need new alliances – political, social, and humanitarian concordat. But we must start from a foreground of truth to achieve this holy grail. Our history as dispensed in public discourses and by government hagiographers is largely revised and contorted to suit pacifist narratives. We cannot paper over our past of fissures, but we can learn from it. Nigeria’s past is not glorious; in fact, the ‘’heroes past’’ as often refrained in our national anthem were not national heroes but ethnic and sectional champions. As a matter of fact, our ‘’heroes past’’ never made pretensions of being national heroes. Obafemi…
In the tome of liberation struggles, a few names resonate infinitely. One name that rings trenchant to this day is Ernesto ‘’Che’’ Guevara. ‘’Che’’ envisioned a world as recreated in the dialectics of Karl Marx – where those is in the lowest rung of the social strata can command their destiny. Che fantasised about an ‘’international revolution’’ which would sweep across the world beginning from Latin America. The Argentine revolutionary found an ally in Fidel Castro, the late leader of Cuba. But Castro found in him a useful marionette. Che was disinterested in acquiring political power. It was all about…
The media possesses near-celestial powers. It calls into existence what must be and what must not be. It can actuate change and mobilise consciences to a cause. It can destroy, it can build; it can hurt and it can heal. Yes, it can call into existence ‘’the things that do not exist’’, – the power of god. I must say, the power of the media is also its burden. The ‘’omnipotence’’ of this public institution straps on it great responsibility. After all, ‘’with great power comes great responsibility’’. The media exists to serve public interest. And there should be no…
Genocides or mass killings do not just happen. They are usually harbingered by conspiracy theories of ethnic and religious complexions, sentiments, skewed perceptions and assumptions. Are all these ingredients of doom present in today’s Nigeria? Yes, very much so. But it is for this reason that we must not take a day off in pulling our country out of the precipice. The Rwanda genocide is a familiar example but of which precedent Africans and Nigerians particularly, have refused to learn from. A smorgasbord of the precipitations of the Rwanda genocide bubbles in our country. The cauldron boils, and we are…
No region in Nigeria is a self-sufficient archipelago. None is more fortunate in human and material assets than the other. Each region has its unique quality and contributes a consequential substance to Nigeria. None is greater than the other. We are like geopolitical sextuplets sharing one umbilical cord – nourished and oxygenated by mother Nigeria. It is delusive to assume any of the regions solely underpins the Nigeria infrastructure. The north feeds the nation, and the south contributes in commerce and revenue generation. We are one concentric circle, holding each other at delicate arcs. Nigeria has a unified entity can…
Did the activities of militants in the Niger Delta qualify as crime? Hell Yes! Militancy and kidnapping were a profitable pursuit in that oil-rich region in the early 2000s. Kidnapping as an organised venture entered our national lexicon at the time. Immigrants from Europe and America working with oil companies were kidnapped and huge ransoms extracted from them. Soldiers and police officers were killed, and public infrastructure destroyed. This is a fact of history. Really, there was a method to the madness of the Niger Delta militants. They were fighting for a just cause — a region so endowed; yet…
The idea of having a near-perfect country out of a ruptured Nigeria is illusory. The composite parts of the country each contribute to the miasma of confusion that Nigeria is. No single entity is responsible for Nigeria’s problems. All the ethnic nationalities are equal shareholders in the failing of the Nigerian enterprise. There is enough blame to go around. Splintering the entity has often been exalted as the remedy to Nigeria’s problems. But this is a defective reasoning because in this instance, Nigeria is defined by its geography and not its people. Nigeria is its people. It is the same…
There is more to Lai than meets the eye. He is more controversial than he is understood. And he has chalked up quite a reputation for himself as an unabridged talker. Lai does not mince his words. He says them as they erupt from his consciousness. He could be carefree in his cadence but firm in delivery. Lai is Lai. Loved, hated, reviled, mocked and hailed all the same — depending on the political divide. I am one of Lai’s harshest critics. I have a reason to be. And my position has not changed. But I would like to share…
It takes just a moment of indignation to destroy; to cast down and cast out. It is easier to destroy than to build. And what is broken sometimes cannot be put together again. Why are we at daggers drawn with one another? Why are we at each other’s throat? Why the hate-slinging? In the south, the drumbeats of war are pounding, and in the north, the cavalrymen are assembling. But nobody wins in this family feud. No doubt, Nigeria is tottering on the precipice. This is perhaps one of the most precarious times in our democratic evolution since 1999. It…
Most of us agree that the unity of Nigeria is held by a tenuous thread, and that by the hands of the current administration old scars have been lacerated to bleed anger and hate. Sleeping dogs awakened and the flames of division stoked ever so tenaciously. Nigeria needs healing. 2023 should be for healing. Nigeria needs a doctor. Yes, the country needs a carpenter. It also needs a builder and an architect. If we are all desirous of healing from nearly six years of hate-slinging, recriminations and animosity, why are we not having conversations around a ‘’healer president’’ in 2023…
You cannot tango with hyenas and not get devoured. Hyenas are vicious; blundering yet pernicious, and jocular yet devious. Hyenas do not live by the rules of the wild; they subsist on the punitive canon of their clans. In fact, infanticide is common among hyenas. They eat their young. They eat their own. So, that you waltz with the hyenas does not mean you will not end up in the bowels of the beast. This appears to be the fate of Ibrahim Magu, suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. I had chanced on Magu at media…
Abuja is under siege. Terror lives and breathes here. Citizens are kidnapped every day from their homes but sadly, some of these tragedies escape outrage and alarm. There is a false sense of security in the federal capital territory (FCT) – the flawed assumption of safety – which has enabled the atrocities of bandits in the nation’s capital to persist without hysteria. Security agencies – all with headquarters in Abuja – get away with non-performance as regards the FCT largely because of this false sense of security by residents. No one calls them out. Kidnappings happen and everyone carries on…
Leadership must be responsive to diversity. It is the rudimentary ingredient to fostering unity among variegated people. Where leadership becomes insouciant to diversity, every other thing fails. This is where the Buhari administration hit its nadir. The government abused, disregarded and mismanaged the delicate ethnic and religious balance on which Nigeria pivots. In fact, President Buhari never cloaked his prejudice and oblique aspect. After the 2015 election, he infamously said those who gave him five percent vote were not deserving of the same treatment as those who gave him 97 percent vote. ‘’Words on marble’’ — Buhari: “The constituents, for…
We are outcomes of our society and our society is a consequence of our essence. We live by the governing examples and norms of our community and we cannot be more than what we settled to be — most especially when we are averse to change and unwilling to disrupt the punitive order. Simply, we cannot exist outside the prevailing moral and cultural dome. Our law enforcement agencies are a reflection of the ugly underlay of our society. I believe even if the best police or security agencies in the world were transposed to Nigeria, in no time, they will become…
If the 2023 presidency is relieved of competition and minimised to an ethnic contest, then we are consciously backtracking to the mistakes of 2015. Ethnic considerations brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power. And I am sure most Nigerians have witnessed the calamity that this current administration is. When leadership is robbed of progressive competition, competence is impaired. We will keep chasing the will-o-the-wisp of progress as a country for as long as the tribe of a citizen matters more than his antecedents, competence level and abilities. ‘’Turn-by-turn’’ presidency will only yield ‘’turn-by-turn’’ misery. Nepotism here thrives largely because a leader…
One thing is constant in the human ecosystem – class struggle. According to Karl Marx: “The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.’’ There is perhaps, no other country where the fault lines of class are well accented like in Nigeria — where the rich secrete themselves in vulgar mansions with ramparts flanked by slums and where the elite hedge themselves about with phalanxes of police officers, and even conscripting the security officers into their household servantry. But I think Nigeria is where there is ‘’no’’ class struggle. The deprived class have been viciously emasculated…
We love scandals. By ‘’we’’ I mean both the dramatis personae in a scandal and the spectators sitting in judgment. Why would a superior at a workplace get entangled in a sexual congress with a subordinate if not driven by depravity and adrenaline rush from eating a forbidden fruit? It is predatory for anyone in authority or in a higher position to get in the hay with a subordinate. It is classical animal predation. I once worked in a financial institution. I regard that experience as an ‘’incident of the past’’ I do not want to relish. It is suspended…
