The 2023 Nigerian Presidential Election— Random Thoughts

ColumnsNigeriaOpinionPoliticsThe 2023 Nigerian Presidential Election— Random Thoughts

PilotnewsJune 6, 2022

We need a president, a solid person with the integrity, wisdom, knowledge, power, capacity, and love of the country to change our nation for good. —Dr. I. D. Onwudiwe _______________ After the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Primary Elections, one presidential aspirant complained bitterly about being “betrayed” by the other governors, hence his second placement for the PDP-nominated flag-bearer’s position. Atiku Abubaker won the tally while governor Nyesom Nwike from Rivers State lost resplendently. The governor’s...

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OPINION: Elite Compact Thrown Into Doubt as Atiku Abubakar’s Emergence Blows Nigerian Presidential Race Wide Open

ColumnsNigeria ElectionsOpinionOPINION: Elite Compact Thrown Into Doubt as Atiku Abubakar’s Emergence Blows Nigerian Presidential Race Wide Open

PilotnewsMay 31, 2022

The outcome of party presidential primaries appears to signal the end of post-military elite political consensus.   Insofar as the axle of political contestation in Nigeria is the struggle for power between the northern and southern elite blocs, systemic stability hinges on the moral understanding that power will rotate between the two regions. The order of succession since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in 1999 has largely followed the logic of this entente, starting...

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OPINION: Party Structure and its Essence in Electoral Victory

ColumnsOpinionPoliticsOPINION: Party Structure and its Essence in Electoral Victory

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 31, 2022

No political party can win any serious election without strong membership that can rival or contain the membership of its closest opposition. That is what party structure is all about. During election seasons in Nigeria, the concept of party structure is one of the most used phrases. Much so that the meaning of the concept is now trapped in confusion of sorts. Some say money is the ultimate party structure. Others say it is voters....

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OPINION: Reaction to “Blasphemy” Killing Illustrates Complicated Role of Religion in Nigeria’s Democratic Transition

ColumnsCrime & SecurityOpinionOPINION: Reaction to “Blasphemy” Killing Illustrates Complicated Role of Religion in Nigeria’s Democratic Transition

PilotnewsMay 27, 2022

Horrendous killing of college sophomore highlights the country’s ethnoreligious fault line, but interdenominational rivalry in the south is of no less moment.   All in all, reactions to the murder of Ms. Deborah Yakubu, a 200-level home economics student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, have exposed Nigeria’s deepest political fractures and lingering questions over citizenship, national identity, and secularity. On May 12, following disagreement over a WhatsApp voice note deemed to have been...

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Peter Obi: Between the Politics of a Delegate and the Downing Street Photoshoot

Anthony Obi OgboColumnsNigeriaOpinionPeter Obi: Between the Politics of a Delegate and the Downing Street Photoshoot

PilotnewsMay 27, 20221

“Obi’s latest political move contradicts his own gospel of being indispensable, and it hurts his credibility moving forward.” Just a few days before his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was due for its national convention, Nigerian presidential hopeful Peter Obi shocked his camp with an announcement. Mr. Obi announced his resignation from the party and also his withdrawal from the presidential race on his party’s slate. There were, however, rumors that he would join the Labour...

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OPINION: Peter Obi’s Resignation from the PDP: Examining the Igbo Option to Nigeria’s Presidency

ColumnsNigeria ElectionsOpinionOPINION: Peter Obi’s Resignation from the PDP: Examining the Igbo Option to Nigeria’s Presidency

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 25, 2022

Since 2020, I devoted time to analyzing the chances of securing Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction. At the time, I had argued that Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction is not a Nigerian project but an Igbo project and hence, Igbo political elites should own it and drive it. But this never happened. Up till a little over two months ago, Peter Obi had maintained that he was not contesting for the highest office in the...

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OPINION: Nigerian Senate: A New Retirement Home?

ColumnsNewsOpinionPoliticsOPINION: Nigerian Senate: A New Retirement Home?

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 25, 2022

Before 2011, it was uncommon for governors who have served for eight years in their states to aspire to the senate. Between 1999 and 2007, governors after serving their tenures simply moved on to something else. Most of the governors have now been forgotten. However, a handful of them have found their way into the senate between 2011 and 2019. But since 2011, it has become trendy for former governors to go to the senate....

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Playing God ―Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Screwed Up

ColumnsDon OkoloOpinionPoliticsPlaying God ―Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Screwed Up

PilotnewsMay 23, 20222

“This Archbishop must truly believe that THE BODY OF CHRIST, is his to grant. I say, screw him.” ―Don Okolo Sometimes, I find myself thinking the way atheists do. Atheists must have rationalized all tidbits of data their minds feed them before every one of them concluded that there is no God. Neil Degrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist, contends that if one can’t scientifically prove the existence of God, then God does not exist. A brilliant...

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Gruesome “Blasphemy” Killing Brings Nigeria’s Long-Running Ethno-Religious Divide Into Sharp Focus

ColumnsCrime & SecurityOpinionReligionGruesome “Blasphemy” Killing Brings Nigeria’s Long-Running Ethno-Religious Divide Into Sharp Focus

PilotnewsMay 18, 2022

The brutal murder of college sophomore evokes conflicting visions of citizenship and political identity in Nigeria.   Last week’s gruesome murder of Deborah Yakubu, a home economics sophomore at the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, comes at a time of escalating social and economic tension in Nigeria, and will most certainly raise the political stakes as the country enters electioneering season in preparation for next year’s presidential election. Ms. Yakubu was thought to have...

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OPINION: Goodluck Jonathan’s Hidden Treasures in Aso Rock

ColumnsOpinionPoliticsOPINION: Goodluck Jonathan’s Hidden Treasures in Aso Rock

Ebuka Onyekwelu (Staff Writer)May 18, 2022

In 2015, Goodluck Jonathan was clearly unwilling to leave Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of political power, but he had to leave because that was his only available option since he needed to be alive to enjoy power. The odds were against him, if not, Goodluck Jonathan, like most other political leaders, would never walk away. It is in the nature of power that those who wield it are often unwilling to let go of it...

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