Proposed Southeast Joint Security Network ― A Logical Reflection

ColumnsNigeriaOpinionProposed Southeast Joint Security Network ― A Logical Reflection

PilotnewsApril 12, 2021

“Ebubeagu must hit the ground running” ―Ebuka Onyekwelu Yesterday, the five governors of the Southeast region met at Owerri the Imo state capital and for the first time in a long while, the entire governors were present in persons. At the end of their meeting, they all agreed to form a united security front called “Ebubeagu” as a joint Southeast security formation. This is coming about four months after the IPOB’s ESN was formed, and...

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OPINION: Foreign Involvement Growing in Mozambique Counterinsurgency

AfricaColumnsCrime & SecurityOpinionOPINION: Foreign Involvement Growing in Mozambique Counterinsurgency

PilotnewsApril 7, 2021

By John Campbell, Guest Columnist & Blogger ______ Jihadi attacks in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province are accelerating, with heavy fighting breaking out around the town of Palma. In response, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa sent South African troops to evacuate South African nationals. The French oil and gas company Total has evacuated its employees from its Afungi gas facility and suspended construction on a $20 billion project. The Maputo government has, for much of the insurgency, routinely declined international help. But with the...

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Southeast Under Siege —Nigeria’s Security Lapses Takes a New Dimension

ColumnsNigeriaOpinionSoutheast Under Siege —Nigeria’s Security Lapses Takes a New Dimension

PilotnewsApril 5, 2021

It is the Southeast that has everything to lose if they throw their homeland into wild chaos ―Ebuka Onyekwelu As it stands, every part of Nigeria has now been engulfed in one life-threatening security challenge or another. Many states across the federation have well more than a handful share of this challenge. The Nigerian military inundated by the more traditional problem of lack of sufficient weapons to prosecute the ragging war against terrorism and banditry...

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“Georgia On My Mind” ―Dazed Republican States Strive to Adopt Autocracy

ColumnsDon OkoloOpinion“Georgia On My Mind” ―Dazed Republican States Strive to Adopt Autocracy

PilotnewsApril 1, 2021

“…if you were lucky and you cast that vote they dreaded, and it turned out they hated the outcome, they would simply declare the republican loser, the victor.” ―Don Okolo In truth, if you were searching for America’s most evil City or State, you’d have three, maybe four southern States to run through the mill of ignominy, to see which one stands with her head held high…proud she had beaten out the other three. The...

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OPINION: Concern Grows About Jihadi Activity in Ivory Coast

National SecurityOpinionWest AfricaOPINION: Concern Grows About Jihadi Activity in Ivory Coast

PilotnewsApril 1, 2021

By John Campbell, Guest Columnist & Blogger _____ In the early hours of March 29, an estimated sixty gunmen attacked two small military installations in Kafolo and Kolobougou, both located in Ivory Coast on the border with Burkina Faso. The assailants killed at least three soldiers and wounded others. While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the media is speculating credibly that the perpetrators were jihadis based in nearby Burkina Faso, where Islamist groups have been...

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OPINION: Nigerian Lawmakers Consider a Petroleum Investment Bill

EconomyOil & GasOpinionOPINION: Nigerian Lawmakers Consider a Petroleum Investment Bill

PilotnewsMarch 24, 2021

By John Campbell Nigerian lawmakers are seeking passage of a Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that would reorganize the oil industry. Since the establishment of civilian government in 1999 after a generation of military rule, repeated attempts at passing a PIB have been made. But the government, the political class, and the industry’s leaders (foreign and domestic) have never reached a consensus that would make the reordering possible of such a crucial industry. The technical issues are exceedingly complex. Uncertainty around...

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Nigerian Labour Organizations Must Grow Beyond Strike Actions

ColumnsNewsNigeriaOpinionNigerian Labour Organizations Must Grow Beyond Strike Actions

PilotnewsMarch 21, 2021

“Right now, the biggest question labour leaders should be asking is how they can maintain the relevance of their organization in the coming years,” ―Ebuka Onyekwelu Labour unions in Nigeria have attained a near-seamless integration with strike action, such that the only thing they are known for is industrial action. Aside from their frequent fights with the government over price regulation, salary increment, payments of benefits, as well as other demands for better working conditions,...

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OPINION: Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou Awarded Mo Ibrahim Prize for Excellence in African Leadership

AfricaNational DevelopmentNewsOpinionOPINION: Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou Awarded Mo Ibrahim Prize for Excellence in African Leadership

PilotnewsMarch 21, 2021

By John Campbell Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, set to step down after two terms in office, was last week awarded the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The chair of the Mo Ibrahim Prize Committee, Festus Mogae, a former president of Botswana and himself a recipient of the prize, said that Issoufou had “led his people on a path of progress.” The committee noted that Issoufou had faced “severe political and economic issues.” Niger in the best of times...

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OPINION: The Nigerian Military’s Missing Link: A Joint Special Operations Command

Crime & SecurityNigeriaOpinionOPINION: The Nigerian Military’s Missing Link: A Joint Special Operations Command

PilotnewsMarch 18, 2021

By Fola Aina Nigeria’s northern regions continue to struggle with insecurity, claiming the lives of tens of thousands and displacing millions due to armed banditry and Boko Haram. Significant battlefield defeats led the military to resort to a strategy of establishing super camps to prevent terrorists and armed bandits from overrunning areas of relative peace. However, as that approach has largely failed, President Muhammadu Buhari decided to heed months of repeated calls for change among the military’s top brass when he appointed new service chiefs in late...

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OPINION: John Magufuli, Tanzania’s COVID-Denying President, Dies

AfricaOpinionPoliticsOPINION: John Magufuli, Tanzania’s COVID-Denying President, Dies

PilotnewsMarch 18, 2021

By Nolan Quinn ____ President John Magufuli’s death at sixty-one years of age followed a familiar pattern among Africa’s putative strongmen: denials that he was sick followed by secrecy as to the circumstances of his dying and where it happened. Magufuli, like other African heads of state, apparently sought treatment outside his own country, rumor had it either in Kenya or India—perhaps both. Vice President Samia Suluhu, announcing the president’s death yesterday, said the president died from a heart...

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