One was rounding off graduate education at the University Jos when Godswill Obioma was appointed a professor of Mathematics education at a record age of 38. Then, there were students in their 30s still pursuing an undergraduate education in the same institution. So, emerging a professor in his thirties was a stunning achievement, which endeared him to most of us. He became a natural role model to ambitious students and young lecturers. Some of us had to keep a tab on him. For social researchers who are interested in the predictive validity of academic performance for career success, Professor Obioma…
Author: Law Mefor
The nomination of the Acting Director-General (DG) of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, by President Muhammadu Buhari for a substantive five-year term, after serving in acting capacity for almost four years, has expectedly not gone down well with a cross section of Nigerians. They not only see the effrontery as yet another gross breach of the 1999 Constitution, but also a flagrant abuse of the provisions of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014. To make matters worse, the President equally nominated Oyindamola Oni (North Central) as Chairman of PenCom Board. Lawan had hardly finished reading the letter…
‘Comme ci comme ça’ (the French expression for ‘neither good nor bad’; ‘so so’; ‘tolerable’, ‘passable’) may well be the best way to describe Nigeria at 60. Sixty years in the life of a person may be a big deal but for a nation, it is not that much. For a person, sixty years is already a year of retirement, the year one takes a rest from active service and begins to enjoy pensions if one belongs in the public service; or, for private citizens, it is the time one begins to enjoy his lifelong investments and labour. For Nigeria…
Nigerian democracy is so only in name. Going by the most basic definitions, Nigerian democracy is not anywhere near a political system that can be described as a democracy. Let us look at the most basic denominators of a democracy. For starters, democracy is government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected representatives or agents under a free electoral system. Countries in real democracy despite their so-called imperfections are the United States and Canada. Relying on these basic definitions and examples,…
It is unbelievable how ego trips and intrigues of 2023 made the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to lose Edo State to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It all started when the party acquiesced to the machinations that led to the disqualification of its own Governor on frivolity. Governor Godwin Obaseki was disqualified based on the same certificates he used in 2016 to become the Governor of Edo State. Such flimsy excuses were used to attempt to repeat what happened to Akinwunmi Ambode as Governor of Lagos State who was denied the return ticket by the APC at the…
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide recently instituted a fund for the development of Alaigbo to the elation of every right-thinking Igbo man or woman as there is no meaningful federal government presence in the South East. When the Biafra war ended in January 1970, the Gowon regime instituted the so-called 3 Rs, namely: Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation but ostensibly left out Reintegration, the most crucial. Even the 3 Rs, which they set out for themselves were halfheartedly pursued. The result is the South East being the zone with the biggest infrastructure deficits in Nigeria. Whatever people see in the South East in…
“Every expectation is unrealistic until it is made a spectacular reality through inspiration, hard work, and persistence.” ― Stewart Stafford When ‘Project Nigerian President of Igbo Extraction’ was launched in 2019 by a team of concerned intellectuals and professionals from the Eastern part, and organized the national conversation in Abuja in March 2020 to kick-start their campaign, nobody gave it a chance. But it has succeeded against all the odds. All the leading political parties in the 2023 Presidential Election picked their candidates from the South East. The choice of the ruling party was a shocker. “What could have informed…
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages” – William Shakespeare It was the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, who dubbed Senator Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah the Prince of the Senate. This is a fitting decoration for a man whose zest and determination to better the fortunes of Nigeria through legislative interventions is helping to define and situate the 9th Senate. With over a dozen Motions and half a dozen Bills at various stages of…
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” –George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905 The riding quotation is an apt counsel from a celebrated thinker, George Santayana, who, at the age of 48, left his position at Harvard and returned to Europe permanently. The leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are acting like a group that has no respect for history and its damning consequences. They are behaving like the Bourbons of France, whom, according to Talleyrand, “have learned nothing, and… have forgotten nothing.” One classic example of the party’s impolitic decisions is a statement…
The two primary goals of every nation are peace and development, and a nation’s national security architecture is put in place to ensure peace so that development may happen. Security agencies are therefore not to exacerbate or widen the latitude for conflict and underdevelopment but to ensure peace at all costs. Against this backdrop, of grave concern should be the black Sunday which days ago turned out to be, when the nation was greeted with the sad news of the deathly confrontation between the security forces and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Pictures of dead bodies were…
It was philosopher Victor Hugo who once said: ‘No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come’. So is the raging agitation for the Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. Its philosophical and fundamental underpinnings have been articulated in a handy book to clear all grey areas. The book was recently put together by the leaders of Project Nigerian President of Igbo extraction (Project – NIPIEX) who commissioned the research and writing of the book, titled, ”The Philosophical and Fundamental Principles of the Unity and Equity Quest”. The small book is written for general circulation and consumption, especially…
Nigeria is turning out to be one huge hope betrayed for Africans and the Black Race generally. Unless Nigeria gets it right, black men will not be reckoned with anywhere in the world. South African is doing well already but blacks cannot claim to have set that country up for greatness. Their progress will always be traced to the white rule, apartheid or not apartheid. The point is that blacks are yet to assert themselves as a collective despite some individual global achievements. African continent has to be developed and it has to be done by the blacks themselves and…
A significant number of people have died due to misdiagnosis of their medical conditions done with the best of intentions. One can be right the wrong way and vice versa. Such is life. The nephew and closest confidant of President Muhammadu Buhari, in a BBC Hausa interview days ago, called for merit in deciding who governs Nigeria at the expiration of Buhari’s tenure. In case you missed the interview, Daura said: “This turn by turn, it was done once, it was done twice, and it was done trice…It is better for this country to be one… It should be for…
Gabriel Suswan, Senator representing Benue North-East Senatorial District recently told a newspaper that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would still zone the office of the President to the North in 2023. The distinguished senator may not be a member of the PDP’s National Executive Committee (NEC), but as a senior party member, he is in a position to know that the PDP has not come out with any zoning formula or taken such an insensitive decision. However, the senator was not circumspect and spoke like a prophet without any doubt. Hear him: “Of course, the PDP will maintain zoning. We…
An Igbo adage states: when a deity starts giving much trouble, it will be shown the wood from which it was carved. There are lines that are never crossed in culture and tradition, and in national life. Such red lines keep the society going, cohesive and coherent. And the Igbo society is a highly organized one and imbued in the deep and rich culture and tradition, of which most if not all IPOB members are part of, including their factional leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Igbo culture holds murder and its intents as the highest crime against society and humanity. The most…
Ordinarily, I would not have gratified Tony Nnadi’s diatribe and his phantom Kuje Prison visit Report, Referendum with any response. I would have let it to be consigned to where it belongs – the trashcan. But on second thought, I also know that a lie repeated too often passes for the truth. Tony Nnadi has perfected this art and perfidy and lives off it. So, when I read his harangue against me and Ngozi Odumuko, the coordinator of Nzuko Umunna, and some others, I knew he was on the same worn, old road – confusing gullible minds who unfortunately are…
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”The Holy Bible First, Happy Fathers’ Day! Being married or siring a child does not make one a father. The task of fatherhood is great but exciting and ultimately rewarding if one performs it well. If one lives long enough into late adulthood and joins the great club of septuagenarians and above, such is the time that reaping the reward or punishment of fatherhood comes inevitably. In old age, one has done a full circle, weak and frail, and patiently…
“Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble” -Chinua Achebe This proverb from Chinua Achebe’s famous book, ‘Things fall apart’, reminds us that a man who has found success and overcome obstacles with the help of divine intervention should display humility. The ancient wisdom is lost on the present-day politicians in Nigeria who are now playing God, prancing the landscape like colossuses. They are breaking things, causing damage and doing incalculable damage to the nation’s hard-earned democracy. For such men, Nigeria’s democracy is not working and progressing to the throes death.…
“Intelligence of the masses is too low Their forgetfulness very great They must be told one thing a thousand times” – Adolf Hitler Creating a nation out of a sovereign nation, either by the fiat of the United Nations, or by mutual consent; or by a convulsion of the affected nations by the splinter sections is never a walk in the park. Unless the affected nation decides to dissolve itself, dividing it takes a lengthy process that requires a buy-in of two-third of nations of the world, including unanimous affirmations of the five (5) nations holding veto in the Security…
“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.” Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224 The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) just said that the fate of Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition would be decided by zoning. Apart from this ominous statement, some fishy persons have been flying the same kite. Atiku’s son also just did…
—Dubs the Invasion of the South East by Unidentified Elements from the North, a Clear and Present Existential Danger— The Igbo Patriotic Forum (IPF), a prominent socio-political organization, led by Chief Dr. Simon Okeke, OFR condemns in no uncertain terms, what it considers the unbridled and well-orchestrated invasion of Igbo heartland by unidentified elements from the North. In a press statement the group released in Abuja, the IPF, while affirming their belief in the unity of the country Nigeria and the constitutionally guaranteed free movement of people, they are alarmed that the present migration of thousands of young men from…
Anambra 2021 governorship election promises to be like none other for many reasons. As always, it shall be star-studded. But that is not what will make the forthcoming election unique. Anambra has always been refreshingly different in its elections since the return to democracy in 1999. Remarkably, there is so much money, flurry and furry but no blood. To the best of my knowledge, no matter the heat generated in the fierce contests and the crossfires, nobody has ever died because of the governorship election in Anambra State. This is a good testament and a proof of sagacity of the…
It is not difficult to see prominent citizens from certain divides of the country claiming they do not understand what ‘Restructuring’ means. One also suspects that there are proponents of Restructuring who may not be able to defend their position well for the simple reason that their appreciation of the subject matter is vague; or, maybe, they are just suffering bandwagon effect. A cause may not be so imperilled from its enemies as from its injudicious defence by its friends. One, therefore, feels compelled to simplify and summarise what ‘Restructuring’ means despite the facts out there, even from the ruling…
There is a local adage, which goes thus: all animals run but when the cow runs it is called a mad cow. This adage comes handy in situating the nexus between Biafra agitation and Nigerian President of Igbo Extraction. The narration being peddled and promoted by some including a few misguided Igbo people is that Ndigbo cannot justifiably demand for Biafra and Nigeria President at the same time. Ndigbo must settle for one, they say. This is the height of mischief. This convenient position is claiming that the sovereign state of Biafra is the position and quest of Ndigbo. Nothing…
The response of governors from southern Nigeria divide, especially the South East, to the existential threats confronting their States is embarrassing, to say the least. Even where they speak at all they speak tongues in cheek. They watch their states as they are being invaded by persons who have no legitimate business and whose motives are shrouded in mystery. Even in lockdown, where there is a subsisting presidential order and resolutions of the Nigerian Governors Forum stopping interstate travels, these movements have continued without hindrance as the governors make only feeble, muffled noises or simply keep away. Many say it…
This was organized by Igbo Leadership Development Foundation(ILDF) in collaboration with Gregory University Uturu, World Igbo Summit Group, Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies and New Generation Leadership Foundation. 1. The Igbo Leadership Development Foundation in collaboration with Gregory University Uturu, World Igbo Summit Group, Centre for Intl Advanced and Professional Studies and New Generation Leadership Foundation organized the Great Debate (national Conversation) for National Unity and Equity on the Theme: Federal Character, Restructuring and Rotation of Presidential Power in Nigeria. It held in Abuja on 5th March 2020. 2. Several regional and national leaders past and present participated.…
Nigeria is now much like a barber’s chair – much motion without movement… The Nigerian nation is still staggering under the weight of formation. It has tried some options; including holding the nation together by sheer force but none seems to be working. The Nigeria-Biafra civil war was the ultimate measure deployed to keep the nation one. From the country’s checkered experience, building a nation doesn’t seem quite possible before the nation itself is really formed. Nigerian leaders do not seem to see this. Not until now that the chicks are coming home to roost, leaving the 200m citizens virtually…
As the buildup to Anambra 2021 standalone gubernatorial election gains traction, some politicians are making frantic efforts to truncate the beautiful rotation of governor position arrangement in the State. The argument of these naysayers is that governorship has moved around the three senatorial zones, and the chips, therefore, should fall where they may, starting from the 2021 governorship election in the state. For the avoidance of doubt, Their Excellencies Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju (Anambra South), Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige and Mr. Peter Gregory Obi (Anambra Central) and currently Chief Willie Obiano (Anambra North) have all governed Anambra State in that order.…
Once was it said and more often should it be repeated in political calculus in Nigeria, Men of the future must not only understand their past but also the forces that forge the present. Nigeria has become a workshop of democracy and the forces that forge the nation are holding firm. And with wimpy, ineffectual and unchallenging political class, these forces do not have to yield an inch. This is the dense political climate in which recently, Igbo Leadership Development Foundation (ILDF) and its allies unveiled the plan to organize the Great Debate for national unity centered on Restructuring and…
“Faith by itself, if it does not have (good) works, is dead” – Holy Bible Somebody once wrote about the Nigeria wartime head of state General Yakubu Gowon, saying: ‘I will never pray with General Yakubu Gowon’. It is not that a praying general is an anathema to this writer, but within the biblical context, as James 2:17; New King James Version bluntly puts it; “… faith by itself, if it does not have (good) works, is dead”. The prayer circus of General Gowon viewed in this light, one finds it rather curious and difficult understanding why he would hide…
