I was in a conversation with a friend few days ago. The fellow asked angrily, ‘Is Nigeria cursed? Why is it that Nigeria is so rich yet, our people are so poor, and suffering?’ I responded, corruption and bad governance, simple. It was that discussion I had with this friend that has led me to do this write up. Nigeria is known worldwide to be among the richest countries in the world but very unfortunately, her people lavish in abject poverty, suffering all manner of disease and sickness, backward on infrastructural development yet, her political elites are VERY wealthy. No…
Author: Uzodinma Nwaogbe
Nigeria is unarguably under a ferocious attack by some enemies, mercenaries and kidnappers in and outside government. They have circled the country, captured her, punching and kicking her with no mercy. They are hitting the country with all kinds of dangerous weapons, it is only heaven that can save this great country from not crushing to death finally. The country is ‘living-dead’ according to James Hadley Chase. Presently in Okuama, somewhere in Ughelli, Delta State, South-South of Nigeria, Nigerian soldiers are on reprisal attack, burning and killing over the killings of their comrades in arm. About 17 soldiers of the…
The suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi from the floor of the Senate for three months by his colleagues may not have cleared the Senate from the budget padding allegations. Senator Ningi, chairman, Senate committee on population, representing Bauchi central, Bauchi State has accused his colleagues at the Senate of padding the 2024 budget with about N3.7tn. The said sum lacks analysis, transparency and accountability. It did not explain in details what the money was meant for. It ought to have spelt out what specific expenditure the money was to be used for. This is an established case of corruption. And,…
Upon taking power on May 29, 2023, after the general elections, the country’s leadership under the supervision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (Jagaban of Borgu) must move to save the country from economic strangulation. Nigeria presently is at its ebb and the consequences are so high if something drastic is not done to remove the present hardship the people are undergoing. There have been stories of street protests and looting of warehouses in different places around the country because of dire hunger in the land. Nigerian leaders must wake up and embrace the realities on ground and begin serious surgery…
It is crystal clear Nigeria is not working. The blind, deaf and sick can say it loud that the country is at standstill. No doubt, President Tinubu is not the cause of the socio-economic problems we are all going through yet, he cannot extricate himself from being part of the problem. Now, he has the ‘knife and yam,’ every blame stops at his table. Nigeria is presently witnessing a tale of arrested development and regression. There is nothing showing any significance improvement in our human and economic development. It is all abysmal failure and backwardness. Nigeria is in a case…
The high rate of corruption cases in government offices is alarming and extremely disturbing. Nigeria is top among worst corrupt countries in the world, that a UK official described Nigeria as, ‘fantastically corrupt.’ It is so audacious, it has become a norm among government agencies and officials. But thismalicious and callous act of corrupt practices against the state and peoples by both the elected and appointed leaders may eventually destroy this country. Unless there is turn-around approach to anti-corruption fight by the state, this ship – country may possibly sink. This present government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have not…
Ike Ekweremadu, a Nigerian Senator, was elected into the Senate of the Federal Republic in 2003. He served as the Deputy Senate President for three tenures. Earlier, he has served as the Council Chairman of Aninrin Local Government Area of Enugu State. He Chaired the ECOWAS Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States while still in the Senate. Presently, Ekweremadu is convicted for offences related to organ harvesting in the United Kingdom and has been sentenced to years of imprisonment with the wife. Sometime in 2022, while in the United Kingdom for medical assistance to the daughter, Sonia,…
The governorship election was rescheduled by INEC from March 11 to 18, 2023 in all the 28 states where elections are supposed to hold. The good people of Abia state waited patiently with determination to cast their votes for the man of their choice. The March 18 eventually came, citizens of Abia peacefully went to the polls. When results began to emerge signifying that Dr. Alex Otti of the LP is leading comfortably in most of the LGAs, the incumbent governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu unleashed thugs to disrupt proceedings in Obingwa LGA in particular. How Gov. Ikpeazu ever imagined he…
The stage appears set in the governorship contest of Abia state come 2023 with various political parties ready with their candidates. However, one man stands taller than the rest and that is Dr. Alex Chioma Otti of the Labour Party. Otti remains the only candidate that is being sponsored by the masses of Abia state. He is a candidate that his name radiates joy, trust and hope for the ordinary people. A candidate the communities are gearing up for. The other candidates are products of gangsters pushed by greed and avarice for the number one job in Abia. But when…
The violent protests by Muslim youths guided by some adults demanding for the release of the arrested suspects in the murder and burning of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a 200 level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, accused of blasphemy by some Muslim classmates of hers should not be used to cover this heinous crime against humanity. Nigeria is no doubt a secular state, with no particular religion adopted. However, it is mandatory for all citizens to respect another’s religious practice. Yet, we all rise in condemnation of the gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubu by her co-students and invaders…
Some weeks ago, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, former Biafra combatant during the civil war, a one-time Federal Minister, cried out in anger and frustration against the activities of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB. He complained of the activities of members of IPOB in the South East thereby making every effort at the political solution for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kalu a fruitless one. Also, undermining the zone’s infrastructural, economic and political interest a mirage. The South East for years now has been troubled due to the activities of the IPOB members. The zone has witnessed several forced holidays especially…
There is evidently a huge gap existing between the youths of the Igbo region and the leadership. The Igbo youths are angry and have lost faith in the average leader of the east, whether it is of the religious, traditional or political leadership. They consider themselves to have been used, raped and dumped by their leaders. There is maximum suspicion of betrayal, stealing and callousness against the people of the region by their leaders. The leaders deliberately created a wide margin that has existed between it and its followers because of their greed and selfish interest. They have impoverished the…
The call for the freedom of the two separatist group (Yoruba Republic Agitators and IPOB) leaders, Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu is germane to the reduction of tension in the country. It is not the best for the Federal Government to have threatened their lives, pursued them, arrested and have them detained. First, the Federal Government must accept that it is the way and manner they have governed the country since the inception of this democracy that has opened the door for secessionist groups to emerge in the country. Anywhere in the world where any group lives and property are…
Since 1970 when the civil war ended, the Igbos have had it tough surviving in Nigeria under every administration. The Igbos have not in truth been well received back into Nigeria after declaring to be a republic of its own. Every policy has somehow being skewed against the region, whether it is economic or political. It is not same kind of investment, infrastructure or human treatment that you find in other regions that you find in the South East. That of the South East region is usually of low quality and ill treatment. The South East are not considered for…
As hard as the President, Major General Muhammad Buhari (retd.), may press for open grazing in Nigeria, it will not just work. There is no law backing such a misadventure and no power will make open grazing allowed in Nigeria, especially in the southern part of the country. Open grazing is inimical to the development of the country; it is old-fashioned, unacceptable, and destroys people’s farmlands. Besides, it is unhealthy for the animals and the herders as well as promotes acrimony, violent clashes, bloodshed and deaths in our communities. It is sad that some of our leaders in this…
