Archive for August 23rd, 2012
Ideas/Solutions That Can Transform Nigeria
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• Since corruption remains a cancer that is eating away at the destiny of Nigeria and robbing it of its potential to be a great nation, President Goodluck Jonathan should introduce legislation to reform the EFCC and appoint retired General Buhari as the Chairman or someone with similar anti-corruption credential and credibility. Symbolically, this will send a strong message to Nigerians and the international community that the president is serious about attacking the issue of corruption head on. More…
The Recent Iranian Election, Lessons for Nigeria
Iranians went to the polls on June 12, 2009 to vote during that country’s presidential election. They were however outraged when the results of the election gave incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a landslide victory over their preferred candidate Mir Hossain Moussavi in what they perceived as an election fraud. Unlike Nigerians, they took their outrage to the streets of Teheran and other cities in that country. Putting their bodies and lives on the line, tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in daily protest to challenge what they saw as a blatant theft of their votes. We have also witnessed on our television screens, More…
Nigerian Democracy – An Analysis
Ten years after Nigerians ushered in a new era of civilian rule, the PDP led federal government and the National Assembly, the country’s legislative branch of government are virtually non-existent in the lives of Nigerians. On my recent trip here, I was shocked to find a glaring lack of socio-economic and political progress in most of the country. Except for Lagos, Delta, Benue and a few other states where a new generation of governors are transforming their states, the executive and legislative branches of government have both miserably failed the Nigerian people. The conventional wisdom here is that the PDP led government is the worst and most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. The National Assembly is an embarrassment to all credible democracies around the world. It has failed to carry out its constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities. More…
Will President Goodluck Jonathan Deliver on Electoral Reform Ahead of the 2011 Presidential Elections?
As Nigeria prepares for the next presidential election in 2011, are we confident that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led government can produce free and fair elections? Since the 2003 and 2007 elections were clearly a charade, can we infer that the power brokers and god fathers of the ruling PDP, already know who the next president will be? Due to the absence of a strong and viable opposition, Nigeria has been reduced to a one party State by the PDP which controls all three branches of government in the country. Having stolen the last two presidential elections, can Nigerians truly expect free and elections in 2011? More…
The Arab Spring – Lessons for Other African Dictators II
As a follow-up to the last article on this subject, it is gratifying to report that three more dictators have lost their grips on power. Two lost their jobs as a result of the uprising in the Arab world, while one as a result of French and United Nations involvement. It is sad to note that amongst these three dictators, Muammar Gaddafi the former strong man of Libya lost his life under very tragic and humiliating circumstances. Laurent Gbagbo the former president of the Ivory Coast who had refused to step down after losing to Alassane Ouattara in the November 2010 presidential elections in spite of numerous mediation efforts by the ECOWAS, the Africa Union, The UN and the European Union was kicked out of office in April 2011. These bodies had demanded his resignation imposing severe economic sanctions that crippled the economy of the country but failed to push him out of power. Instead, it took devastating air strikes by French and UN helicopters to help end Mr. Gbagbo’s gamble to defy the international community. He was captured like a common criminal in April and taken into custody by his rival. The rest like they say is now history. More…