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Ghana has taught both Nigeria and the US a masterclass in electoral integrity and democratic maturity in its just concluded election. For Nigeria, the takeaway is that electoral integrity is the cornerstone upon which trust and order rest. When an election is conducted with the meticulous precision of a weaver at a loom — its […]
Continue ReadingThere is a shrinking feeling about it all. With each off -season election that is conducted and results announced, we feel smaller and more unfree as a polity. Our elections bring about more insecurity; unpopular electoral outcomes require goons and thugs to protect illicit incumbents. And of course a larger number of election related court cases spring […]
Continue ReadingOn the eve of last Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State, Tokunbo Ajasin, son of Second Republic Governor of the old Ondo State (now Ondo and Ekiti States), predicted what would happen. “I believe the incumbent will win. There is no strong opposition, and the APC (All Progressives Congress) candidate is the incumbent,” the 75-year-old […]
Continue ReadingPresident Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) claims that, despite the hardship in Nigeria, he is delivering on “good governance.” Which was why he urged Nigerians to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow. Worse still, he believes that his economic reforms will “create a stronger, better foundation for future growth”, “cement democracy as our way of life”, […]
Continue Reading(The 2024 edition of the Pastor Poju Oyemade-inspired ‘Platform Nigeria’ conversation held yesterday in Lagos with the theme, ‘Democracy and the Free Market Economy’. Speakers included Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, a former Lagos State Governor, Bishop Matthew […]
Continue ReadingLet’s come to the issues of recruitment and selection. All over the world, leadership is what changes history. Think of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka, Vladimir Lenin, and come to terms with the fact that followership are just extras in a movie! Or, was it ‘the people’ […]
Continue ReadingThere is a problem about the institutional framework in which the Nigerian state as presently constituted is based. To have democracy, good governance and credible elections, there must be institutional reforms and great accountability in government. The three are interwoven, only that we tend to think that democracy is all about elections. In any case, […]
Continue ReadingIt is a glorious thing to have a tested leader as the president of a country. It is also a blessing when the president means what he says and when what he says is not just believable but also approved by the people. Such a society is bound to swim in an environment of enormous […]
Continue ReadingThe Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), one of Nigeria’s most prominent pro-democracy NGOs, invited me to make a virtual presentation from my base in Atlanta to a national seminar it organized last Thursday on “targeted judicial reforms and enhanced judicial integrity in post-election litigation.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it, but here are the thoughts […]
Continue ReadingLet me say I took former President Olusegun Obasanjo lightly when he told me that “liberal democracy is not working in Africa” in an interview a while ago. I did not read much into it. I even thought he was still recovering from what hit him in the presidential election (won by his old enemy) […]
Continue ReadingFormer Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has advocated a system of government he called ‘Afro Democracy’, for African countries, insisting that Western liberal democracy was forced on the continent and has never worked as a system of government in Africa. Obasanjo stated this while delivering his keynote address at an high-level consultation on ‘Rethinking Western […]
Continue ReadingThere are some bitter truths that those in the temporary house of power may not like to hear. One such truth is the fact that democracy is not a sure fire assurance that a country will prosper. Autocracy, its supposed opposite, is also not guaranteed to lead to misery. If democracy was an infallible system […]
Continue ReadingPresidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, in commemoration of “June 12 Democracy Day” in Nigeria, has claimed that the “nation’s democracy is deeply troubled, while its destiny remains uncertain and precarious.” In a statement via his verified Twitter handle, Obi lamented that “the country lacks […]
Continue ReadingDemocracy, by its design, nature, and practice, is not a light toggle switch that is turned on and off. It is not a wall that crumbles in one fell swoop. Democracy is always a process, both in its growth and demise. History is replete with how democracies collapsed in other climes. Disregarding the rule of […]
Continue ReadingOnce again, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission imposed a heavy-handed fine on Channels TV, following a petition by an aide of Bola Tinubu. Ironically, the petition was based on some comment by the Labour Party vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed who, during a live interview, said something to the effect that swearing Tinubu into office in May […]
Continue ReadingThere are many still in shock about February 25th and March 18 elections. This is understandable. In the week before the 20th of February it appeared the Obidient movement had pulled off a miracle and already made good of the first part of the first promise of the Obi/Datti manifesto: To unite and secure Nigeria. […]
Continue ReadingNigerian Pastor, Apostle Johnson Suleman has said that the two elections recently conducted in Nigeria have proven that the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) used to cast votes during elections is useless. The clergyman stated this while preaching in his church today March 19. He mentioned that Nigeria is not in any way practicing democracy but […]
Continue ReadingNigeria’s much anticipated presidential election has yielded an outcome, leaving behind a thick smoke trail of disquiet and global infamy. Mr. Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has since been announced winner of the February 23rd election. At home, the emotions are unevenly mixed between the minority whose partisanship has triumphed and […]
Continue ReadingTalking seriously, Democracy as a concept was alien to Africa, and by implication, Nigeria. Largely, right from inception, democratic norms and values were never assimilated and internalised by Africans. At best, its definition and perception were conveniently based on assumptions. So, it meant different things to different people who thought differently! Needless to repeat that […]
Continue ReadingIn a statement signed by its outgoing National President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) on Saturday described the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai as a “right-winged extremist” who doesn’t believe in rules. The labour union also condemned what it described as “irresponsible and dangerous” the comments of the governor regarding the […]
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