[GAMJI WRITER]

I was surprised that some people seemed surprised that Buhari decided to seek re-election. I have always maintained that it will be unthinkable for any President of the country to forgo the opportunity of seeking re-election – even if that President is in coma. Aside from the natural allure of power, in our type of society, the office of President is by definition bigger than its occupant such that the decision on whether to seek for a second term or not is bigger than the occupant of that office. Details

Plato, Machiavelli and the Qualities of Good Political Leadership. By Okachikwu Dibia

Thus for Nigeria to progress, it needs leadership that has integrity, intellectualism, patriotism and fear of God. Applying these qualities on Nigerian political leadership, how many Nigerian leaders qualify to lead the country since independence in 1960? An attempt will show that over 90% of Nigeria’s past and present political leadership has no business in leading the country and that is the chief reason the country has remained underdeveloped since 1960. I will prove this very soon. Details

Poverty In Africa Not Rooted In Ethics Integrity Or Laziness. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Imported finished goods and services will never liberate you. Your destiny is in your own hands. Until we have an African country bold enough that other black countries can look up to throughout the world, we will continue to wallow in poverty, lose best brains and our leaders that want to be like their colonial masters, even as great grandchildren of slaves, will continue to sell us out for pittance. Details

Buhari 2019 Campaigners: Lying to Sell a Truth. By Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia

As the rest of us are waiting for explanation or at worst a mum, I m particularly disappointed at the kind of things coming from the Government and her social media campaigners. Last week, for example, many newspapers bore various headlines like, ‘Good News: FG Declares Tuition FREE At All Federal Universities In Nigeria’, ‘Beware that tuition fee is now illegal in Federal Universities’, etc. My God! As someone who has been in a Federal University for almost a half of my short life I know that tuition has been free in Federal universities from the beginning. My parents did not pay for me and I m not paying for my children. My students are not paying. Why then present the issue as if tuition fees were being paid and the Government of the day is now banning it?Details

Achebe versus Obasanjo, Danjuma, Agbese. By Okachikwu Dibia

... Obasanjo insisted that “our number one problem was corruption... In the same vein, General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd) argued that “the greatest challenge facing the country was corruption” .... Dan Agbese, ... formulated a hypothesis that: “wherever public institutions fail the people, there you find the ubiquitous ‘C’ word”. I believe ‘C’ represents corruption. Consequently, to him, corruption is the bane of Nigeria. Details

Northern Nigerian Muslims and their Addiction to Doctrinal Controversies. By Muhsin Ibrahim

The North is stasis largely because of our doing. We are too disorganised, unorganised, divided, and disenchanted with one another. Almost everything is either sectionalised (remember the Northeast Development Commission saga?) or interpreted based on one's sectarian or political affiliation. Details

On Need to Revive Monolithic North. By Ado Umar Muhammad

That was the golden age of the legendary ‘monolithic North,’ which was greatly feared by its powerful political foes. Luckily for them that feared North gradually became a shadow of its former self after the creation of states and the civil war. This was because through extraneous instigation and sustained media campaign, elites of minority tribes began to complain of neglect and abandonment by their fellow Northerners, particularly leaders of military regimes that succeeded General Yakubu Gowon who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 1975. Details

Nigerian Fast, Heresy, and Common Sense. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

“Fasting and prayers” are also taken by Nigeria’s ignorantly religious to be substitutes for obedience, patriotic deeds, or principled living.  It is simplistic to ignore your necessary duty to society, and then think that you can “pray” and “fast” your way out of the consequences. Negligence of government responsibilities is often shrouded by “prayer and fasting”. Besides, there have been reports of governments in Nigeria spending public funds on “prayer and fasting”. Details

Nigeria and the Winds of Political Power. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

In Nigeria, it appears that many people are too carried away by the winds, earthquakes, and fires of political movements or forces to pay attention to the still small voice of conscience, knowledge, and revelation. This weakness is a reason for the recurring mistakes the mainstream news media, opinion column writers, the electorate, and the perpetual critics, who hardly vote in elections, have been making. Details

Notes on Leftist Politics in Nigeria. By Edwin Madunagu

Recently, a young man who teaches English at Abia State University phoned to inform me of an impending conference on the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx. But what the call provoked in me was not the remembrance of Marx and his enduring legacy but anger over the fact that some people still regularly irritate me with chants of “death of communism” and “disappearance of socialism”. Details

Triumph, CTV: Rimi’s favorite media twins. By Ado Umar Muhammad

Wednesday, April 4, 2018, marked the eighth anniversary of the death of Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi, the first executive governor of old Kano state (Jigawa state inclusive). He died as a result of an attack by armed bandits close to Darki town in Takai LGA while on his way back to Kano from Bauchi state. Late Rimi is generally acknowledged as one of the two best governors of Kano state who laid the solid foundation for its development, the other being Alhaji Audu Bako. Details

The State of Education in Nigeria (Part 1). By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

There are Nigerian critics who agree that Nigeria is offering “expired education”. The foundation of college or university education is primary/secondary education. Many of our secondary school graduates that have been admitted to study in some of the best universities in the world are not first “quarantined” in programs code-named: “detoxification of Nigeria’s expired education” before they start as freshmen in their choice degree programs. Details

Nigerians, Foreign is not Always Better. By Professor Leonard Karshima Shilgba

Last Saturday, a friend forwarded to me this headline: “Nigerians are receiving expired education, says US Varsity VC.” The story was published in a mainstream national newspaper. He and I have studied and worked in countries that supposedly do not offer “expired education” to their citizens and foreigners that study in them. Without wasting precious time, I sent him this reply: “Education does not ‘expire’. Besides, let the ‘US varsity VC’ provide the curricula for the programs the US universities offer, and compare with Nigerian universities’. Details

On Nigeria’s Regional and Religious Affiliations. By Professor Leonard Karshima Shilgba

Let me address Nigerian militants. Why are you angry with Nigeria, but not with your State of origin, Local Government Area, your State governor or Local government chairman? Do you know that out of every N 100 that goes into the Federation Account your States and Local Government Councils take about N 48? And from the N52, the Federal Government should provide across the country all the services that the constitution requires it to provide. Details

Role Of Advocacy In Budget Tracking. By Otive Igbuzor, PhD

Several scholars have argued that one of the greatest problems confronting Nigeria is corruption. It is well known and documented that corruption is widespread, deep and endemic in Nigeria. Nigeria has been consistently rated among the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International in its Corruption Perception Index. In 2011, Nigeria was ranked 143^rd out of 183 countries. In 2012, Nigeria was rated 139^th out of 176 countries and in 2013, Nigeria was placed at the 144^th position out of 177 countries. Details

Nigeria’s Public University Education: Reducing Burdens and Raising Quality. By Professor Leonard Karshima Shilgba

The time is now to work toward saving Nigeria’s college education from under-funding, inadequate carrying capacity, unreliable quality assurance that is heavily based on National Universities Commission (NUC)-commissioned evaluations, and merit-abused admission and employment criteria. We cannot continue this way, and hope to build a great society. We must change course. Details

Can I Trust Your Electoral Choice? By Professor Leonard Karshima Shilgba

In 2015, after President Buhari's electoral victory in the presidential election that year, I listened in to an interactive listeners' program on a radio station in Bayelsa State. The discussion was on expectations from Buhari government. A caller said, "I would like Buhari to construct Yenagoa-Ogbia road." The host correctly told him that the road construction was the business of the Bayelsa State government. Similar wrong expectations are entertained by many Nigerian voters who may sincerely not know enough, while some may just be plain mischievous. Details

We are All Together. We are all Together. By Owei Lakemfa

The politicians are in bloom with the 2019 General Elections knocking. One colourful politician I am yet to hear from is Pastor Chris Okotie, the Founder and Head Pastor of Household of God Church International Ministries. In almost  all contemporary elections, he tells Nigerians that God had instructed him to run for the Presidency as he has been anointed the next the President of the Blackman’s most populous country. Details

Nigeria in Need of Leaders. By Leonard Karshima Shilgba

More than ten years ago, in an essay, I asked who spoke for Nigeria. Every so often, we speak for our “tribe”, “religion”, or “geo-political zones”, which we must, but quite rarely do we speak for Nigeria. And this also is our problem. It cannot be denied that the most prominent qualification for the Nigerian citizenship is our respective ethnic nationalities from which we have our divine origins. Details

Divorce: Best Mom Even In A Slum May Not Be The Best Wife. By Farouk Martins Aresa

The areas in old African cities like Monrovia and Freetown may look like ghettos now, they were the place we were very happy. We had soccer fields close by and where there was none, we created ours on the streets. When cars came, we made way for them and as soon as they drove away, we resumed our game. Today, with so many people, you cannot even see Lagos roads, full of people. Cars make their way through like a divided sea that closes as cars move away. Details

Kannywood, a Film Industry in Need of Revaluation. By Muhsin Ibrahim

As I wrote elsewhere, the relationship between cinema and the orthodox religious institutions is often marked by uneasiness if not outright hostility. From its very beginning, the Puritans see the raison d’être of visual art as only to entertain, which means to distract people from their duty to God and ethical undertakings. Until today, the accusation is all the more raging. How filmmakers handle the questions of morality, culture and spirituality is under censorship. Kannywood, the Kano-based, up-and-coming motion picture industry of and by the predominantly Muslim Hausa speaking people in northern Nigeria, is not an exception. Details

Budget 2018: Issues for Advocacy. By Otive Igbuzor, PhD

The budget is crucial in allocating resources and delivering services to citizens. But there are a lot of blockages to the budgetary process in Nigeria. Previous advocacy efforts have led to some improvement, but a lot still needs to be done especially in terms of process, content and implementation issues. There is the need to promote citizens engagement in the entire budget cycle from selection of projects through implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Details

Africa and the Age of Hate. By Aminu Hamajoda

The rising ethnic and communal tensions in Africa especially in Central Africa, Congo, South Sudan and Nigeria should be stopped, analyzed and resolved immediately before the middle of this year, 2018. Leaders in Africa must gather without resort to UNO or any non-African institution to appraise the current conflicts in Africa without fear or favour. Details

Yoruba Ladies Are The Ultimate Wives. By Farouk Martins Aresa

However, if you have made it, if you do not have a Yoruba as a wife, you have failed to clinch the ultimate lady. It does not matter which ethnic group you belong to, Yoruba lady is it. Go to other cities or towns, once they know you have a Yoruba wife, you are entitled to a chieftaincy title and they brag about it too. One reason is what most of us know: Yoruba ladies do not marry down except when certain circumstances demand it. Details

Fulani “Herdsmen” and the Way Forward. By Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia

Like on every issue, Nigerians are divided. First, since the issue has to do with Fulani, a tribe closely associated with Islam, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Southern press took their side. It is an opportunity to pour out the anti-Islamic venom on an issue that is purely criminal. As a regular reader of online newspapers I always find the headlines of southern newspapers and the comments revealing. They have a regular pattern. From the headline you would know the side taken by the newspaper. Details

Complexity of the Quintessential Artist. By Abdulwarees Solanke

The archetypal artist is often a completely complex personality, usually misunderstood, an unpredictable character given to impatience, mood swings and brain waves. Yet, he has an unusual inner beauty and absorptive capacity of all experiences. He appreciates the beauty of nature to fertilize his vivid imaginations; he has utopian dreams and aspirations that confound the average man. You may find him totally a recluse or an unapologetic introvert. He could be weird, and sometimes be called mad or unreasonable. He could be boring, colorless, or unattractive. He or she could look a small rat you will consider him inconsequential; you may see him a "stingo", thin as broomstick or anopheles. He could be physically challenged: blind, lame, deaf or dumb. Because we often cannot gauge his strength, values and virtues, we are likely to underrate him. Because he is sometimes short of words, we cannot find happiness in his company. Details

Process Reform: If Nigeria Must Break Through. By Abdul-Warith Solanke

With the efforts at the executive arm of government to inspire CHANGE in all ramifications in Nigeria, there is a silver lining of a breakthrough in the country. The notion of a breakthrough is reaching the desired destination from a torturous journey, not by magic or miracle but by a definitive and systematic process that requires careful planning and patience. This is the gist of President Muhammadu Buhari’s thesis on Process Reform instead of restructuring obsession while addressing the nation on Monday. So, in what way must we reform our processes or must we act to achieve that systematic breakthrough? Details

Businesses & Inter-Ethnic Marriages May Suppress African Self-Hatred. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Businesses have always contributed a haven where you find people of different ethnic groups in pursuit of economic salvation. Any business that wants to expand its market share must expand to gain more people to patronize its goods and services. They need retailers to market services and goods. Africans have now come to realize that they have to patronize one another through the Continent. South and East African businesses now operate in West Africa and vice versa. Details

Ethnic Economic Sabotage Brewing. By Farouk Martins Aresa

Yoruba and Igbo youths have been involved in internet war for a while. They can easily predict who is involved in rituals, drugs or 419 at home or overseas. Yoruba youths became sensitive to a financial institution within them being cheated and may be dragged into liquidation by no other than some businessman relocating back home. They are grabbed by fear of those taking it all but giving little in return. Guarantee Trust can go under if others acquire such bad loans. Details