Nigerian Christians must decide whether to cut or thrust. It is not unusual that religion is getting all the attention as next year’s presidential election in Nigeria draws closer. For better or for worse, Nigerians take religion very seriously, and the often unpredictable interaction of religion and ethnicity is a key element of political contestation in the country. Yet, if the role of religion was totally predictable, that Nigerian Christians feel that they have been...
The contending scenarios as social order breaks down. In a different context, the deadly attack on the 7 Guards Battalion of the Nigerian Army Presidential Guards Brigade on the evening of Friday, July 22nd would have set alarm bells ringing in the upper echelons of Nigerian intelligence. Among the many puzzles raised by the attack, which reportedly left three soldiers wounded and eight dead, is the question of how the assailants got wind of the elite unit’s...
Why does it make sense to you and to your principal that the only route to his vaulting presidential ambition must be one that sunders two ethnic groups that have since before the amalgamation been living together in amity, harmony and peace, two peoples that have always, in peace or in peril, lent each other a helping hand? Some have called you foolish, dear Sam Omatseye. Others insist that you are plain stupid. There are...
“The duo of Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed remains the most qualified team that could steer this country in a different direction. However, a possible victory hangs on how this movement could strategically circumvent a dysfunctional balloting process and navigate past the finish line of electoral victory.” ―Anthony Obi Ogbo ________________________ During a strategic group meeting of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) held shortly before the 2015 election at a castle on Puerta Vista Lane in...
By Abba Dukawa (Guest Columnist) Weaponizing ethnic and religious chauvinism will be detrimentally debilitating to every Nigerian because these two sickening barometers for electing Nigerian leaders have taken the country backward. Hunger and untold hardship aren’t respectful of ethnicity or religion. Just like rain, whenever there is a downpour, no one’s roof is always spared the reason why religion shouldn’t be a yardstick about who governs the country. As the country gradually counts months...
“I hope that I am wrong. I know that I am not wrong. I am a pragmatist as much as I am a realist.” ―Don Okolo I am the messenger with the bad news. Especially the kind of news so heavy to bear you’d rather hold it close to your vest for as long as you could until the waves from the resultant surge passed. But I am the one that would go the distance...
Nigeria is staring down the barrel of financial bankruptcy. A bizarre situation is playing out in Nigeria. If you fix your attention on the political space, things have never been more stable. The major political parties have picked their candidates for next February’s all-important presidential election, who in turn have selected their running mates. From this angle, as the commentariat picks over the bones of the “Muslim-Muslim ticket,” the most urgent consideration is the...
“A politician who detaches himself from the masses and relies on physical structures is only embarking on a fruitless political journey,” ―G. Ugo Ulasi From best practices, refined worldviews, events, and trending developments around the globe, the masses have generally adjudged the owners of the sovereignty and power of their nations. This is sufficiently attested by how easily partisan political structures bow to the people’s resistance whenever a political leader is rejected, and have to...
If I captured your smile and pry your heart, Would it shine through the hollows of your being Or would it fizzle out into darkness? If I captured your smile and pry your heart, Would it shine through the hollows of your being Or would it fizzle out into darkness? If I unearthed the soil of your laughter and dig further, Would I find fruit of joy and happiness Or would there lie the gory...
It is important to begin this contribution by recognizing the fact that man is naturally under the attack of many challenges consistently trying to deplete his reserves. (I use “man” here generically not specifically) It could be a legal tender reserve or moral reserve. No human being is impervious to these attacks. However, integrity demands that a man should fall back to his moral reserves in the event of the depletion of his bank savings....
