IN 2021, State governors and local government chairmen in the 36 states of the Federation collected over N375 billion from public coffers in the name of security vote, an act not provided for in the Nigerian constitution or any known law in the country. This amount excludes those the president and other top government officials collected in the same year, nor does it include what is appropriated for internal security or the budget of the police and security agencies. The security vote, often provided in cash to governors, is not subject to legislative oversight or independent audit and therefore disbursed…
Author: Dakuku Peterside
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MULTICULTURALISM in England, Ireland and Scotland has produced new leaders of Asian origins. This ideal is celebrated worldwide as progress and a symbol of a more fantastic future where the emphasis will be placed more on unity in diversity than discrimination of the old era. The power of this new development is not lost on people. Rishi Sunak, a Hindu whose parents are of South Asian background but migrated to the UK from Africa, became the first British Prime Minister of a minority ethnic background; Sadiq Khan, a Muslim and son of a Pakistani immigrant, is the Mayor of London;…
NIGERIAN elections and Nigerian marriages have a lot in common. Both should be sacrosanct. They are conducted with pomp and fanfare, and promises are made but kept in breach. Professions of loyalty and honesty are like a singsong. Like a marriage cements the relationship between two consenting adults supposedly in love, elections cement and clarify the relationship between the candidates and the electorate in defining power structures, agencies, and processes in a democracy. Divorce becomes inevitable when the glue that holds a marriage together weakens and breaks down over time. Likewise, when elections become dodgy, crude, and violent, they become meaningless,…
THE Gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections have come and gone in most states. Unfortunately in some states it was characterised by drama, unnecessary tension, flawed process, violence and broad day light electoral robbery . The victors are celebrating, and the losers must be feeling bad. We all hope that this election, flawed as it may seem, will deepen our democracy and that we have elected leaders that will stir the ship of the various states in Nigeria to a glorious destination. Governors who will convert electoral mandate to results in socio-economic progress. The few weeks coming will see…
A CRITICAL element of the 2023 general election is the intensity and electricity of the Nigerian youths’ participation in the electoral process. Statistics may not fully capture or contextualise youth involvement in the 2023 national electoral process. The youth energy and involvement this time around deservedly forms a new chapter in post-1999 democratic politics. And we are all witnesses to their sheer determination to seize the moment and change the political orthodoxy. For obvious reasons, the Nigerian youths are victims of a political system and leadership that failed them, and they have suddenly risen from slumber to challenge the system and lead…
THE last presidential and National Assembly election was as crucial to our democracy as it was controversial. A lot was riding on it, delivering more drama than anticipated. Our present reality is that going by the posturing of key political gladiators, the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections have triggered direct judicial intervention as the final phase of the electoral process. This is fine. At least, it is the only legitimate channel to address grievances against the conduct of the elections and to seek redress. Two major political parties , PDP and LP presidential candidates have made it clear they are approaching…
LAST Saturday’s presidential election marks a new beginning for Nigeria, if not literally, then clearly symbolically. Nigerian voters, defied hunger , Naira crisis and appropriated that moment as a clear point of departure from the past. They embraced the election as if their lives depended on it. The general high level of enthusiasm lifted voter turnout and reinforced confidence in democracy. Young people saw it as a chance to “get back their country”, plagued by bad leadership and underdevelopment. The fanfare and zest with which Nigerians trooped out in their numbers to perform a ritual that may not have rewarded…
IT is now a cliché that this election is a make-or-mar election for Nigeria. It is our way of saying this is a consequential election. The importance of this election has dawned on everyone, and unlike every other election before it, it is the first election post military era that the result is difficult to predict . There is a multiplicity of struggles between some simple and binary issues and some multifaceted issues. Some Nigerians are pitching this election as a contest between established orthodoxy since the current democratic dispensation in 1999 and the clamour for a new political order…
HOW does one measure success in life, career, business, or politics? There are different yardsticks for different folks. Some measure success based on the material quantity one accumulates, while others measure it based on the quality of life one gets. Some assume it is both and, to a considerable degree, a high level of qualitative and quantitative life experiences linked with material, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. Many, however, are indifferent to the rigour of defining success criteria, especially in a society that has deified materialism and worshipped hedonism. Therefore, success means many things to so many people. Clayton Christensen,…
NIGERIANS are facing the reality of scarcity of cash literarily. Banks are overwhelmed by angry customers demanding money, the ATMs are flooded with furious Nigerians struggling to withdraw cash, and some spend the whole day hoping to get a few Naira notes to pay bills. POS operators complain of a lack of money; a few have charged between 15% and 20% to customers to get some cash. Most Nigerians are stranded because the bank apps for transfers need to be fixed, and most cannot make or receive transferred money. Naira notes are in high demand, and the newly redesigned notes…
NIGERIA’S general election, the largest democratic exercise in Africa, begins on 25 February. All the parties and candidates are jostling to get the voters’ attention and convince them to vote for them in the elections. The wait is palpitating, and the electioneering campaign drama is thus far exhilarating. Everything but issues facing Nigerians is fair game and the political satire playing out even keeps the unapologetic patriot ashamed of our political process. Conventions and rules of the political games are written and broken with recklessness. Many parties’ political strategy seems to be “no strategy”. They seem to go with the…
THE theatricals for winning the hearts and minds of the voters are all around us. The perceptual game of showing strength in the number of supporters is an age long effective game plan for the parties, and it is one strategy that cuts across all parties. All political parties are outdoing themselves in winning the popularity contests typified by pulling a crowd with the most outrageous noises and boisterous displays in rallies on the streets, roads, stadiums, and other venues that can contain crowds. If pulling crowds is the determinant of election outcomes, the 2023 general elections would have been…
THE inauguration of the Management Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) last week, the second under President Buhari, was greeted with mixed reactions by the people of the Niger Delta and most Nigerians. The people’s response is rooted in many issues, most of which are connected and straddling. I list them here in no hierarchy of importance: a feeling of relief that finally, the jinx of interim management has broken, a seeming sweetener for politics and the political season we are in, at last hopes of assuaging the reign of mismanagement that has dented the image of the organisation…
2023 for Nigerians is about choice and with choice comes consequences . We face critical decisions on many issues that will define our future as a country and as citizens. The most obvious and consequential of this choice and consequence effect is the general elections. We will be voting at various levels and constituencies to elect leaders that will pilot the country’s affairs for the next four years. The presidential election is the zenith of these elections, and its significance has far-reaching consequences for the country. On its face value, unlike earlier presidential elections where we had two real options, Nigerians…