Cont’d from last week
In Nigeria there has been a long unresolved debate about whether a middle class exists at all. Resolved or not, the truth is that every Nigerian knows where he belongs: whether he belongs to the class of the rich, the poor or struggling in between. Although many people are more inclined to argue that a middle class does exist, the very fact that there is a debate about that existence underscores it’s impotence. Read the rest of this entry »
I have decided to reprint this article which was first published November 4, 2007 in view of current happenings in which Mrs Cecelia Ibru is a principal actress. Hope readers find some the lessons useful. Read the rest of this entry »
I was quite impressed by the views you expressed when you wrote the article captioned: “Yar’adua versus the Militants” which was published in the Sunday Trust edition of 14 June 2009. As a rule, I personally have always supported dialogue, compromise and accommodation in solving all social problems. Violence as we all know begets violence, and in the case of the problem of the Niger Delta, engaging the militants in violence may have short term benefits but it may very well prolong the conflict by expanding the number of those who see the government as the aggressor. It was in this light that I supported your views that President Yar’adua’s amnesty to the militants was a welcome initiative that should be given every support to succeed. Read the rest of this entry »
As the violent dust raised by the tragic saga of Boko Haram settles down, very horrible pictures are emerging from the rubble: state sanctioned genocide. Bloodthirsty policemen with only one thing on their minds: murder. Callous, incompetent state governors desperate to divert attention away from their corruption, ineptitude and other political troubles. With each passing day, and with each additional revelation, Mohammed Yusuf, leader of the Boko Haram movement and hundreds of his followers that were killed by the police and the army, are looking less like villains and more like victims. Poor guys, there is just no one left alive to tell their own side of the story. But those who thought that killing everybody that could have provided alternative window into the remote and immediate cause of the tragedy would cover up their crimes for ever, did not reckon with modern technology, or with the determination of the Nigerian army to be thoroughly professional in the matter. Read the rest of this entry »
A University of Massachusetts scholar, Darren Brew was asked on ALJAZEERA TV to offer an opinion on this exclusively Nigerian paradox: while bullets and bombs were exploding in various parts of the country, the Nigerian President was off to Brazil for a two-day State visit. Professor Brew responded: “It is a perfect barometer on the lack of interest of the overall Nigerian elite in addressing the problem” Read the rest of this entry »
Hello Mallam Garba Deen Muhammad. It did not come to me as a surprise that people like Ado Umar could reply your write up on the above issue because they are the kind of people that always block the governor from knowing the truth, by praising him as the best governor the state has ever had. Read the rest of this entry »
There can be little doubt as to the ultimate objectives of the Niger Delta criminals. Objective one is to maintain the region, and by extension the country, in a perpetual state of conflict; this would guarantee the criminals the perfect setting for the bunkering activities that is at the heart of the crisis. This was how, by perpetuating conflict, Charles Taylor, now on trial at The Hague for war crimes that include such heinous offences as murder, rape and mutilation, was able to plunder Sierra Leone’s diamonds for many years before nemesis caught up with him. Read the rest of this entry »
As an external observer I am not surprised that almost all the suppositions expressed and questions raised by Garba Deen Muhammad in the first four paragraphs of his write-up with the above title, published under his BARK BYTE column in the Sunday Trust of July 5, 2009, have their answers in the affirmative; yet he gave the impression that the opposite is the case. Knowing him personally as a colleague, I am not inclined to consider this as mischief-making but a byproduct of the very likelihood that he has not been to Kano to hear and see things for himself for a very long time. Unless, of course, if there is more to it than meets the eye. Read the rest of this entry »
The time has come for Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau to know this: he has not been the best Ambassador for the constituency he represents. His constituency is an amalgam of the ordinary man who has had no extra-ordinary privileges; of the humble civil servant who got elevated by God; of the settler who is well received and trusted by his host community; but most of all Shekarau is seen as the representative of a class of Nigerians from the northern part of Nigeria that are exposed to modernity and learned in both Eastern and Western education. Read the rest of this entry »
Kaduna State Governor, Architect Namadi Sambo has no choice but to confront the barrage of attacks that have been snapping at him from all sides. Both Namadi as a person and his two-year old administration have come under severe criticism from political opponents, the media (including this column) and those ‘significant others’ that inevitably form part of the extended Kaduna family. Among the criticisms have been his inaccessibility, too much freedom to (inexperienced) subordinates and in general some kind of political inertia. Read the rest of this entry »