“I am not afraid Trump would return. If he did, he would be shamed twice.” ―Don Okolo Unless you are a Blues lover, you couldn’t tell where I pulled that from. I know most of you know the source. But I mo’ tell ya anyway: As far as Blues and Rock fused bands go, ZZ Top takes the cake for me. Look them up and listen to this forty-six-year-old gem they titled, ‘Blue Jean Blues’...
By Ebuka Onyekwelu Since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, various forms of agitations expressing the desires of the people of Nigeria for some structural reforms have become the mainstay of Nigeria’s democratic experience, up till date, after twenty-one long years. Conversations on resource control, propriety of state police, devolution of power, return to regionalism, local government creation, are some of the most vexatious and hotly debated areas requiring reforms. These ultimately entail constitutional...
By Abba Dukawa ____ Funny enough, the Kwankwasiyya movement still not realized that the movement is a paper tiger and has crumbled like a pack of cards. Recently, the movement in its desperate moved to remain relevant in the polity of the day accused Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of illegally selling public properties to cronies and family members. This is nothing but laughable threats that they would not fold arms and allow public assets to...
In response to the latest atrocity—the November 28 killing of civilians working in rice fields in villages in the Jere local government area, which is close to the Borno State capital of Maiduguri—Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum appears to be looking for Borno State and local entities to restore security. In a public statement, he did call on the federal government to recruit more troops, but his emphasis appears to have been on growing the...
It is safe to say that even the great United States could fall prey to a snake oil salesman. ―Don Okolo Well, the caption above isn’t exactly true. The United States is standing on the precarious edge of tipping over into a chasm of jagged rock tips. It is swaying dangerously, but hadn’t yet fallen over…at least, not yet. The next small wind could nudge it over. Believe me, it could come. And if it...
Igbos forgot that it was Haiti, not Israel that stood by them, took them in, fed them throughout the three years of a failed war to sustain the Biafran nationhood. ― Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo I recall in 2010 when the then Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, led a Nigerian delegation, comprising the Red Cross, the private sector, the entertainment industry representatives to evaluate the level of damage by the 7.2 earthquakes that devastated Haiti....
At this stage, it is my considered opinion that no officer of the police force is likely going to be punished for abusing or brutalizing citizens. ―Ebuka Onyekwelu The ongoing hearing on police brutality at the various states of the federation is nothing profound or in the least, significant, for the simple reason that it is increasing difficult to exonerate Nigeria from various forms of violations suffered by its citizens. Much so to the extent...
Amadou Touré, coup maker, coup victim, military ruler, and eventually civilian chief of state in Mali, died last week in Istanbul at the age of seventy-two. Touré dominated Mali’s governance for some twenty years and, in death, is being praised as a “soldier of democracy.” Following his successful 1991 coup against Moussa Traoré, military ruler for thirteen years, Touré orchestrated a transition to elections and civilian government. In 2002 he was elected president and, in 2007, reelected....
There has long been speculation about how Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations are funded. Some funding clearly comes [PDF] from criminal activity, with kidnapping particularly lucrative, and from bank robberies. Presumably, protection rackets also play a role. At some times and in some places, Boko Haram has been able to impose “taxes” on the local population. Boko Haram has also been involved in trading, especially in the Lake Chad Basin. Weapons—a major expense—appear often to come from government armories, sometimes because...
On October 20, 2020, Nigerians watched in horror on social media as men suspected to be members of the military opened fire on peaceful #EndSARS protesters—a movement responding to a litany of abuses by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a special police unit—in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. For more than a decade, Nigerian civil society groups have trained members of public security forces regarding the inviolability of human rights. Despite such training, Nigerian security agencies still...
