Opinion

ON the February 3, 2012, a debate was held at the Angus Memorial Hall, on the campus of Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Igbobi College. The occasion afforded Old Igbobians not only a pleasant reunion, but was also evocative of a simpler and more innocent time. The topic – “Is Religion Occupying Too Much Space In Our National Thought Process” – was ably argued by two of the College’s legendary former debaters, Mr. Chris Borha [who thinks it is] and Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN [who argued for the contrary view]. The judges included two distinguished Old Igbobians, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi (a former foreign minister) and the Honourable Duro Adebiyi (a distinguished former judge of the High Court of Lagos State, 1968-76).

AS the controversy provoked by the six-week postponement of the country’s general elections by the electoral body INEC simmers down, Nigerians have returned to their preparations for Election 2015. Concerning the country’s long awaited but often elusive national development, this will be one of the most consequential elections yet in Nigeria’s democratic experience. The realistic choice facing the Nigerian electorate this time around appears to be rather stark: The one option is to re-elect Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and have him continue with his policies for the next four years. The other option is for Nigeria to pass the baton to the APC’s Muhammadu Buhari and have him implement a different set of policies.

ONE would naturally feel proud to share the same Alma Matar with the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode. It is even double in our case because we were not only colleagues at the Federal Government College, Warri but also at the University of Lagos, where he was my senior. As Alumni comrades would normally put it: We are both “Great Fedgocowosans” for the FGCW connection and “Great Akokites” for UNILAG.

THE newspaper advert was the reminder I needed to set me on the road to Port Harcourt, in mid-July 2013, to catch a glimpse of the state governor who, in my book, calmly outmanoeuvres other state governors as easily as he does an incumbent President. I expected to see a giant but Hon. Chibuike Rotimi…

“In the medium to long-term, addressing truly economic transformation becomes imperative. Alignment between annual budget, medium-term framework and long-term national plan needs to be put in place; there should be a legal provision to issue dollar coupons to state governments as often advocated by economist Henry Boyo, to reduce or eliminate liquidity problems and bank’s…

While the overall PVC distribution figures seem skewed in favour of the northern states, the national percentage of 81.22 is significant and should warrant holding elections. The differential between the north and the south, for me, could be due to voter apathy than anything else. It would surprise many to learn that Northern Nigerian electorate are more politically conscious than their counterparts in the south. While many in the south would be apathetic, some waiting till the last minute, voters in the north will not waste time to go and register and, or collect their PVC when it is announced. It is amazing.

We can see those who are the real haters of our state. They are the hack writers who sit in the comfort of their hired hotel rooms to dish out malicious stories that never happened around Governor Orji, an innocent man. However, there will never be a comparison between Governor Orji and Otti, because Ochendo as he is fondly called by his admirers, is in class of his own. Governor Orji stands tall, while Otti is gasping for the breath. It was Governor Orji who awakened the political consciousness of our people, and not whoever. He was the man who killed godfatherism in the state and has vowed against its resurgence.

Integrity matters, doing what is good for the larger society and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself,” he reportedly told his select audience in a lecture titled, “Imperatives of a national security framework for the development and progress of Nigeria.

The truth is that most Nigerians are neither patriotic nor sincere. The fact on ground is that 50 per cent of oil revenue is not available and we want to pretend it would not affect us

It is not necessarily tribalistic. Because a tribalistic act would be one that insists the ethos of the tribe must command moral value above the standards of the larger society. Still, with or without such a command, simply on the very prospect of an ethnic union, many people feel obliged to withdraw all enthusiasm in favour of a supposedly detribalized ethic.