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NEC was wrong on new foreign policy proposal

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Wed, 11/03/2010 - 00:48
The recent report that the National Economic Council (NEC) has taken a decision that Nigeria will no longer play ‘big brother’ to countries in trouble without getting anything in return, and that henceforth the nation’s foreign interventions and assistance will be guided by ‘national interest’, made headlines. Briefing journalists after the Council’s meeting at Abuja, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State was quoted as saying: “…we are going to
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Lying With Statistics – Nigeria As The ‘Third Fastest Growing Economy’

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Thu, 10/21/2010 - 01:55

In a very influential book, How to Lie with Statistics (1954), the American writer, Darrell Huff, discusses the funny business of lying with figures, telling us how intentional or unintentional errors could lead to inaccurate conclusions. The book, which was meant to be an introduction to statistics for the general reader, quickly became one of the most widely read statistics books in history- despite the fact that the author was not a statistician.

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Orji Kalu’s Braggadocio

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Fri, 10/15/2010 - 23:40
There is something about Orji Uzo Kalu, (OUK), former governor of Abia state, which sticks to your face, making it almost impossible to ignore him, while at the same time alarming your instincts not to feel very comfortable with him, or even trust his moves. Recent reports that OUK had used an armada of police and court bailiffs to ‘shut down’ Thisday after winning a N500m libel suit against the newspaper,  as well as his declaration of intent
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The (Aborted) Meeting of the Igbo Political Forum

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 21:06
The recent blocking of a planned meeting of the Igbo Political Forum (IPF), which was to take place at the Banquet Hall of Hotel Concorde, Owerri, on Monday September 27, 2010, has generated headlines, editorials and condemnations by various groups. According to the story, the organisers had paid N100, 000 to use the hall two weeks before the scheduled event. However, just a few days to the date, riot police men ‘invaded’ the
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As Soyinka Joins Partisan Politics

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Thu, 09/30/2010 - 05:43

The recent news that Wole Soyinka has decided to join partisan politics made headlines. The Nobel laureate, who was elected unopposed as chairman of the Democratic Front for a Peoples Federation (DFPF), also disclosed that the aim of the new party, which was initially denied registration in 2002, was to “sanitize and transform Nigeria’s nationhood into a democratic sanctuary for all her citizens”.

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Ribadu’s Quest to Be President

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Fri, 09/24/2010 - 19:41

The recent declaration by Nuhu Ribadu, former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, that he would run for the presidency of this country in the 2011 elections, may not have come as a surprise to many people. Mallam Ribadu, who became a celebrity public servant by the way he ran the EFCC with pomp and bravado, became even larger than life after he was shoved aside from the job, humiliated, and forced into self-

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Jonathan and the Igbo Question

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Thu, 09/16/2010 - 18:54

The Igbos, grudgingly respected for their entrepreneurial skills, are often derided for their perceived lack of unity and ability to articulate and doggedly defend their common interests. This perception, often exaggerated, or deliberately aimed at subtly disparaging them, feeds into an existential lacuna of patriotic elites, who are Conscious, Cohesive and Conspiratorial, and who enjoy universal legitimacy in Igboland such that they can set and defend the group’s interest.

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The Politics of ‘Generation Shift’

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Sat, 09/11/2010 - 23:09

The idea of power shift to the younger generation has moved up the agenda of political discussion since former military President Ibrahim Babangida, 69, allegedly claimed that Nigerian youths are incapable of giving the country a qualitative leadership. Though the Mina General, who was trying to justify his desire to contest for the presidency next year despite his age claimed he was quoted out of context,  the purported statement appears to have renewed the politics of generation shift, raising in the process,  a number of very interesting issues:

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Marketing Jonathan’s Probable Presidential candidacy

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Mon, 09/06/2010 - 02:22

Goodluck JonathanThe anticipated presidential candidacy of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) has become a big business trapped in high wire politics and intrigues. The Daily Trust (online) of August 28, 2010, reported that the Goodluck Support Group (GSP) co-ordinates over 1,027 other groups who are “calling and begging” President Goodluck Jonathan to run in the 2011 election. The paper also reports that GSP runs a pro-Jonathan newspaper called Goodluck News, and that one of the headlines in its maiden edition was the supposed divine proclamation: “God will not forgive Jonathan if he does not contest”.

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Jonathan, Babangida and the Sword of Damocles

Submitted by Jideofor Adibe on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 17:15

Several issues are raised in what now appears to be veiled jabs between the Babangida camp and the presidency. One, the camp of Jonathan has been apparently responding to the ‘Babangida challenge’. It is possible that recent reports that the federal government has set up a committee to review the Okigbo Report, (which allegedly recommended that Babangida should be prosecuted for purportedly mismanaging $12.4 billion) is part of the weapons in the armoury of the President’s camp

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