The decision by the Dr Ahmad Lawan-led Ninth Senate to set up a 56-member Constitution Review Committee seems to have raised more questions than it answered. The Committee, headed by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, consists of eight principal officers who are to serve as a steering committee within the larger committee, a senator from each of the 36 states of the federation, and two senators from each of the six geopolitical zones. There are several issues raised by the inauguration of the committee: One, with some groups from the Southern part of the country cynically referring…
Author: Jideofor Adibe
When I got an email from the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) informing me of a planned press release today (Thursday, February 27 2020) of a study it conducted on the impact of resource-backed loans on some African countries, my curiosity was aroused. NRGI is an NGO led by Daniel Kaufmann, a respected economist and non-resident senior fellow at Brookings Institution, with its board chaired by the former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo. It receives funding from such respectable donors as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Luminate, the Open Society Foundations, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,…
The recent revelation by the Borno State Commissioner for Information Babakura Jato that about 1,400 repentant Boko Haram suspects have been released in three tranches by the military and re-integrated into the society since Operation Safe Corridor, the government’s de-radicalization programme started in 2016, has generated a lot of angst, not just among the civilian population but also among the soldiers fighting the terrorists. Vincent Akanmode, writing in The Nation of February 15 2020 captured the feeling of most Nigerians over that announcement thus: “True repentance is a matter of the mind and not of the mouth. Unless they are…
A new U.S visa regime announced by the Trump government on January 31 2020, which will restrict citizens of Nigeria and five other countries from obtaining certain categories of American visas, has been generating intense conversations among Nigerians. The U.S. government said it decided to impose new visa restrictions on the affected countries for their failure to meet minimum security requirements for verifying travellers’ identities and individuals who will pose a national security threat. The full report of the restrictions entitled ‘Proclamation on improving enhanced vetting capabilities and process’ and available on www.whitehouse.gov, further stated that “Nigeria also presents a…
In this interview, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe spoke to The News Chronicle’s Prof Jideofor Adibe, Ekpedeme Umoh and Chiamaka Ohakim, Publisher, Editor and Associate Editor respectively of the online newspaper. Excerpts: TNC: As Deputy Governor of Abia State, you had running battles with OrjiUzor Kalu, who was the State Governor and your boss then. Attempts were made twice in 2000 to impeach you, and you resigned in 2003, as you were about to face a third impeachment hearing. Today, Senator Orji Kalu has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for fraud – which he is appealing. Can you…
This week I am continuing with my no-holds-barred interviews with some outspoken Nigerian leaders. As soon as we settled down for the interview in his office at the National Assembly, my first question to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate Minority Leader, was to tell me about the three attempts to impeach him when he was the Deputy Governor of Abia State and the circumstances that surrounded his resignation from that office in 2003. He explained that he and Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, were sworn in on May 29 1999, and by August of the same year, things had begun to…
In this interview with The News Chronicle, Hon. Cletus Obun, the APC Vice Chairman for the Central Senatorial District in Cross Rivers State and the party’s candidate for the IKom/Boki Federal Constituency in the last election, answers questions on the controversies surrounding his candidacy in the election, the government’s recent declaration of Amotekun as illegal, the Ayade government in Cross Rivers State – and many more. TNC: Let me start with this question. When INEC published your name as the House of Representatives’ candidate for the Ikom/Boki Federal constituency of Cross Rivers State during the last election, your candidacy became mired…
Even if you do not like his guts, what you cannot take away from Dr Junaidu Mohammed, a Second Republic law maker who shoots from the hips, is that he is very informed, articulate and passionate about his belief. He is also unabashed when it comes to expressing those beliefs. Educated as a medical doctor in the former Soviet Union and specializing afterwards in the United Kingdom as a neurosurgeon, I cornered him yesterday, January 22 2020, for more than one and half hours for a no-holds-barred interview over the phone – on sundry national issues. He was trained as…
There was a big temptation last week for me to abandon a story I already planned for the week and comment on the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by remotely controlled US drones on January 3 2020. Soleimani, a powerful and shadowy 62-year-old spymaster, was the head of Iran’s security machinery whose accomplishments shaped the creation of a Shiite axis of influence across the Middle East, with Iran as the facilitator and financier. It was obvious that his assassination, which Donald Trump admitted he ordered, would open a new chapter of geopolitical tension across the region. Trump was quoted as saying…
The current debate over the Buhari government’s request to borrow additional $30bn (a substantial portion of which is likely to come from China), has revived debates not just about debt overhang in the country but also about whether China is using debt as a deliberate strategy to take over several countries in Africa. In 2018 John Bolton former US national security adviser pointedly accused China of making “strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing’s wishes and demands.” In fact critics of China’s role in Africa argue that China is basically trying to do what…
In this reflection I am using the phrase welcoming a ‘new decade’ very cautiously as I am mindful of the controversy over whether January 1 2020 should be regarded as the beginning of a new decade or the end of the last decade. For those who argue that 2020 is the last year of the current decade, not the beginning of a new one, their argument is that because there was no Year Zero when the current era began more than 2,000 years ago, all decades, centuries and millennia begin with Year 1 such as 1-10, 11 to 20, 1991…
The Tuesday December 24 2019 release from detention of both the former National Security Adviser Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and publisher of Sahara Reporters Omoyele Sowore came unexpectedly. A terse press release from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami said the decision to release both men was in compliance with the bail granted to them by different courts. Better be late than never, one would say. It should be recalled that Dasuki, who served as national security adviser under President Goodluck Jonathan, was in detention for over four years despite four court orders, including an…
Obasanjo’s recent visit to the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El Rufai, has dominated the media for the past one week. During the visit, the former President reportedly reflected on the Kaduna state governor’s spat with the Senate when he was Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister and his refusal to apologise to the red chamber when he fell out with them during his confirmation hearing. Following from these Obasanjo concluded: “We need a character like this; a man that you know where you stand with him. Any job given to him will be well done,” the former president added.…
Tuesday, December 10 2019, was celebrated around the world as International Human Rights Day to commemorate the 10 December 1948 adoption by the UN General Assembly of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which proclaimed a number of rights as inalienable to all people, irrespective of race, ethnicity, social origin, gender or creed. Two years later, in 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was drafted by the newly created Council of Europe. The ECHR established not only a unique system of rules but also an effective conventional instrument – the European Court of Human Rights – that…
The closure of Nigeria’s land borders to the movement of goods and persons, since October 2019, has understandably been generating intense debates among Nigerians and others, especially the countries affected by the border closures. Nigeria shares land boundaries with Benin, Niger and Cameroun. The government had initially imposed a partial closure of the borders in August ostensibly to facilitate a joint operation involving customs, immigration, police, and army officers on those borders, which it code-named Swift Response. President Buhari has not given definite indications about when the closed borders will be re-opened, though not many expect such to happen before…
I was quite pleased that the controversial International Conference on Witchcraft at the University of Nigeria, my alma mater, held as scheduled, despite opposition from right-wing Christian bodies and other busy-bodies. The conference, organised by the Prof. B.I.C Ijomah Centre for Policy Studies and Research, UNN, was strongly resisted, with pressure mounted on the University authorities to cancel the conference. It is to the credit of the organisers that they stood their ground though they had to change the theme of the conference from the initially proposed “Witchcraft, meanings, factors and practices,” to “Dimensions of human behaviours.” I believe the…
The results of the Saturday November 16 2019 off-season polls in Kogi and Bayelsa States, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission have, as expected, been mired in controversy. The two elections were marred by violence as projected by many analysts in the run-up to the elections. According to the Election Analysis Committee of the Centre for Democracy and Development, there were over 50 critical incidents that marred the outcome of the elections in Bayelsa state alone. In Kogi State, over 10 deaths have so far been reported from the elections in the State. Beyond the orgy of deaths…
In this explosive interview with The News Chronicle (TNC), Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, bares his mind on a number of issues – how his activism as a public intellectual impacts on his vocation as a priest, why his very powerful voice is rarely heard in contentious issues in his home state of Kaduna, what he thinks of priests who hawk miracles and prophecies, his assessment of Nigeria at 59 – and many more! TNC: Greetings Bishop and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. I know how tight your schedule is, and I am sorry that we…
Many Nigerians were taken aback on Tuesday, November 12 2019, when news filtered that the Hate Speech Bill, first introduced in March last year under the eighth Senate, passed the first hearing at the plenary. The Bill, entitled, “National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches (etc) Bill 2019, was sponsored by the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who also sponsored the Bill last year. Among other things, the Bill states that any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in the death of any person shall die by hanging upon…
The recent announcement by the information minister, Lai Mohammed, that the federal government is making plans to regulate the use of social media due to what he called the rampant circulation of fake news and hateful content, has, as should be expected, generated intense debates in the country. Lai Mohammed was quoted as saying: “We cannot allow our media environment to be overtaken by fake news and hate speech, especially on the social media”. In this reflection, I will review the arguments for-and- against the regulation of the social media across the world. I will also discuss some of the…
The first Russia-Africa summit which held in Sochi, Russia, from October 23 – 25 2019, has put Russia- Africa relations on the spot. During the summit, Russia welcomed 43 heads of state or government, along with dozens of business and community leaders. The Summit ended with the usual optics: it spawned $12.5 billion in business deals, largely in arms and grains, Kremlin unveiled plans to double trade with African countries to $40 billion per annum; African leaders had loads of photo-ops with Russian President Vladimir Putin and as part of the razzmatazz, there were reminders in some media that Russia…
The recent Ochanja fire incident in Onitsha, in which a petrol laden tanker exploded into balls of fire after ramming into buildings in the Upper Iweka axis of the city, has brought untold grief to those affected but also untrammelled compassion from several Nigerians. Several lives were lost and properties worth billions of Naira were destroyed by the ensuing inferno. It is estimated that no fewer than 50 storey buildings and 30 vehicles were destroyed by the fire. NEMA estimated that over 2,000 traders suffered huge losses in that tragedy. What I found quite remarkable about the fire tragedy was…
An old video clip in which President Buhari’s wife, Aisha, was seen irate and throwing tantrum in the Villa recently went viral, renewing focus on the First family and their domestic issues. Just before this video, there had been unfounded rumours that President Buhari was set to wed Sadiya Umar Farouq, the Minister of the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development. Upon her return to the country on October 13 2019, after a two-month vacation in the United Kingdom, Aisha Buhari confirmed that she was the woman in the video that went viral and explained the circumstances…
In this interview with The News Chronicle, Femi Adesina, Senior Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity speaks on sundry issues – the Buhari government and its critics, being linked with certain unflattering remarks like allegedly labelling President Buhari’s critics as ‘Wailing Wailers’ or the alleged remark about ‘your life or your land’ in response to herdsmen’s attacks in some areas, allegations of clannishness and Fulanization against the President – and many more. TNC: First, let me thank you for finding time from your very busy schedule for this interview. Can I start by congratulating you on your…
David Cameron’s recent memoir, For the Records, which has largely been shunned by leading arts reviewers such as the New York Review of Books and the New York Times Book Review, has been raising some dust in Nigeria. In the book, the former UK Prime Minister faulted Jonathan’s handling of the operations to rescue the Chibok girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014. He accused Jonathan of “sleeping on the wheel” while the terrorists struck in Borno, and claimed that the Jonathan administration also rejected a British offer to help in the rescue of the Chibok girls. He…
RUGA “makes good economic sense”, Simon Kolawole, Publisher/CEO, TheCable In this interview, Simon Kolawole, veteran journalist and publisher/CEO of the online newspaper, TheCable, talks to The News Chronicle on sundry issues – his resignation as the editor of ThisDay in 2012, his decision to set up TheCable, the proposed federal government’s RUGA scheme – and many more! TNC: First let me congratulate you immensely for the feats achieved by The Cable within a few years of coming into existence. Did you envisage when you first started that The Cable will quickly get to this level of renown, becoming one of…
In 2010 John Campbell, the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria (from May 12 2004 to July 19, 2007) published a book he entitled, ‘Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink.’ A second edition of that book was published in 2013. Campbell, who earlier was a counsellor in the US Embassy in Nigeria between 1988 and 1990, is the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, which also published the book. He is generally respected as an authority on Nigerian affairs. Earlier in 2001, the American journalist Karl Maier had published a book with a similar dispiriting…
This is not the best of times for the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Since the beginning of Buhari’s second term in office, there has been speculations on whether the VP would continue to enjoy the sort of legroom he was allowed in the government during the regime’s first term in office, or whether that legroom would be constricted now that the elections are over and he has presumably outlived his electoral usefulness. The speculations were recently oxygenated first by an announcement that the VP would henceforth seek presidential approvals in the running of the parastatals and agencies which are…
President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent replacement of the Economic Management Team (EMT) headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) headed by Prof. Doyin Salami has led to speculations on the import of this move, including for the continued relevance of Osinbajo, (seen, at least during the government’s first term in office, as the poster boy of the Buhari administration). Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina in a statement said the EAC would advise the president on economic policy matters, including fiscal analysis, economic growth and a range of internal and global economic issues,…
It is very common for politicians to admonish their opponents not to play politics with an issue, even when that admonition is itself loaded with politics. Speaking when the promoters of the proposed African Security Leadership Summit visited him at the State House, Abuja on September 10, 2019, Buhari was reported to have condemned the “undue politicisation” of the security challenges facing the country by some Nigerians. He was also reported to have said that “no matter how much the revisionists try to distort history, the records show where we were in terms of security in 2015, where we are…
