Category: Opinion

Perhaps the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) didn’t know: Since the days of Paschal Bafyau, Nigerians have had a huge trust deficit for so-called labour activists who sell their people at the drop of a hat. So, when on Thursday last week, officials of the NLC walked to the Aso Rock Villa, singing a mimed “three Gbosas” song like kindergarten children just given a pack of noodles, the people suspected that the ancient alimentary consideration had interfered with a laudable activism.   How did the wage construct of N650,000 that the…

Nigeria’s challenges are enormous and grow by the day in the same manner that the vulnerable are alarmingly impoverished.   Also, the 10th Senate has its shortcomings yet unwavering in its resolve to remain people-oriented.   But as has been the case, the overall impacts depend on what the executive branch does with the legislative outputs.   For example, insecurity is one of the perennial threats that diminish all efforts at restoring public confidence in governance. But despite its growing complexities, the Senate is not relenting. Added to a series…

A Not having sex before marriage ought to be good. Restraining yourself from all that tantalising stuff is tough alright, but that is what the Bible says and we all (believers) know that God is always right. Uncle, no touching; aunty, no sneaking. Keep the marriage bed undefiled. All solid contents must be kept in the bra, in the boxers. You can look, even imagine (though that is a sin too) what is in there but you can’t weed or cultivate the land. You can salivate but you must not…

_“Local government is not just about politics, it’s about people’s lives.”_ – Eric Garcetti At last, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled in favor of Nigeria’s 774 Local Governments (LGs)! May God’s name be praised! Yes, the Supreme Court’s ruling is a significant victory, ordering 20.6% of the federation account allocation to be paid directly to LG accounts, as constitutionally mandated! But how did Nigeria descend to this point? It’s clear that most state governors sought to control LGs by appointing their herds and apparatchiks as council chairmen, thus…

Governors have been acting tongue-in-cheek in their reactions to last Thursday’s verdict of the Supreme Court, which stripped them of their suffocating grip over the money meant for local governments in the country. As a collective, the governors unreservedly endorsed the judgement. Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRazak AbdulRahman, who spoke on behalf of the governors, said the forum welcomed the apex court’s ruling granting financial autonomy to the councils, describing the verdict as a relief from the burden on the governors. Addressing State House…

Alhaji Yahaha Adoza Bello came into political limelight when he became the Governor of Kogi state under a most unanticipated circumstances following the sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu who was coasting home to victory as the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2016.   Yahaya Bello’s emergence as replacement for Prince Audu was akin to the invocation of Doctrine of Necessity because some schools of thoughts had posisted that Prince Audu’s running mate Rt Hon James Faleke should ordinarily and automatically assumed the governorship candidatacy .…

Each time the issue of cutting costs is governance is raised, most attentions go to the public officials’ salaries and allowances, including their retinue of aides and vehicles. Another popular area of focus is the Steve Orosonya Report which recommended pruning down the number of ministerial departments and agencies by scrapping or merging some of them. No doubt, these two instances are valid, especially given the prevailing dire economic situation in Nigeria. But there is yet another critical aspect that is mostly overlooked. That is the menace of abandoned projects.…