Author: Martins Oloja

WHILE still basking in the glory of realising a lifetime ambition in March 2023 as president-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had then assured Nigerians that his administration would not only be a government of national unity but also of national competence. Specifically, there was a statement to that effect on March 16, 2023. In that remarkable message, there was a glimmer of “hope of a better tomorrow” Ngugi says, “is the only comfort you can give to a weeping child”. As I was saying here, in what looks like Buhari’s “I-Belong-to-no-body” famous speech on inauguration day on May 29, 2015,…

I HAD planned to continue with the conclusions of my reflections on the chaotic presidency of our current leader especially when the presidential communications office touched off more chaos last week on the eve of their first year in office and 25 years of unbroken democratic dispensation. Most of my valued readers including some respected scholars had earlier advised me to continue to suggest to the chief executive of the federation on how to fix the chaos his leadership style has triggered. I had a draft until two related issues arising from the chaos in the presidency led to fresh…

THE Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration that will clock one on Wednesday this week has been both historic and chaotic. And so for the love of our country, as some will be praying for the administration, others will be speaking in tongues about management of expectations and strategies, some of us on the beat of public affairs commentary should do what the chief executive of the federation needs most at this time: writing on truthsome of the reputation managers would like to hide in a grave. The trouble with hiding truth in a grave is that it won’t stay there (grave)…

I HAD wanted to write on some of our so many and-so-what matters arising from our national greed that has refused to collapse. I had planned to ask questions on why it is getting curiouser and curiouser as in Alice in Wonderland that Dangote has been exporting crude oil from a far country, the United States while Nigeria exports same product. I had also wanted to ask some questions on the whereabouts of the famous Lagos-centric competence of the candidate BAT that was advertised to Nigerians before the 2023 elections. For this week, I had also considered writing on the…

AS WE (the people) reflect on the implications of the 300 per cent increase in electricity tariff for us and the social and human development sector, notably (education and health), let’s again reflect on how Germany has continued to be a tower of strength to even North America on their unique vocational-technical education construct. As I was saying last week here, In Germany, the state, too, benefits from the dual system through easing the burden on public budgets by participation of the enterprises and by keeping the workforce up-to-date. The German dual system has proved its success over a long…

AS the first year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu’s government is loading, it is the right time to remind the administration on the expediency of freezing politics of #Project 2027 so that they can manage priorities and expectations at this time. Here is the reason for this early warning: the Tinubu administration needs to be more organised. The presidential bureaucracy comprising the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), the Office of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and complementary role of the…

THE strong objection of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egebtokun to the state police legislation in the works at the National Assembly should not be dismissed ordinarily. And here is why: The IGP who was a chief security officer (CSO) to Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu now President Tinubu is remarkably educated. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Lagos. Besides, he is a holder of an M.Sc degree in Engineering Analysis and a PGD in Petroleum Economics from the Delta State University and an MBA from the Lagos State University. It is…

AS I was saying, ‘Even in South Korea, rated as No.5 in the world, in terms of budgeting and funding for research and development, the brand maker of Samsung, there is a separate Ministry of Knowledge Development apart from the Ministry of Education – all in a bid to use quality in education of their citizens and public servants weapon of country and global competitiveness. What is more, the United States that often boasts of its exceptionalism in the world order, has been recorded as having subscribed to a scientific way of producing unknown geniuses for both public and private…

AS I was saying before the electricity jumbo bill and other related bills came to compound our expenditure woes: ‘…It is just unfortunate for us here that we in the media hardly cover the public service in Abuja. Only very few journalists now navigate the labyrinthine state of public affairs in Abuja and even in the 36 states of the federation. Besides, the public service arm of the national and state assemblies are hardly covered by our digital journalists these days. Remarkably, that is where the unusual happen. That is also where the documents of the system are generated. No…

THE third part of this reflection on public service as perceived by an outsider is an executive summary of the way we are and that is what our leaders should focus on through public policy formulation Our public schools are not attracting students whose parents have the resources to pay fees in the developing world. Our healthcare system is out of control. Our courts and prisons are so overcrowded that convicted felons are always breaking loose. And many of our proudest cities and states are virtually bankrupt. They can’t maintain public institutions and can’t pay for electricity. Confidence in government…

AS I was saying the journey through the public service wilderness took me to the pre-national assembly forerunning too: Even before the inauguration of the first session of the National Assembly in June 1999, I had been covering the forerunners who prepared the way for the return of the most sensitive arm in a democracy: the National Assembly, Abuja: Let’s read my account to the retired federal Permanent Secretaries: ‘…Alhaji Ibrahim Salim was then Director-General/Clerk-Designate, National Assembly Liaison Office. He was later to be pioneer Clerk, National Assembly, (CNA). At the same International Conference Centre, I met several officers including…

IT is beginning to appear that our leaders are not ready to read any writings on the walls. They don’t seem to be interested in any risk analysis of these difficult times. They appear too busy to be aware that our democracy isn’t working. Plato thought democracy was a terrible system, a prelude to tyranny, giving power to selfish and dangerous demagogues. Watching what is happening these days in democracies around the world, especially in Africa’s most populous country, it’s hard to disagree with Plato. Democracy seems to be producing an abundance of incompetent and dishonest political leaders, who exploit…

AS I wrote here on Sunday May 10, 2020, the report of the 2012 Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies also known as the Oronsaye Panel Report, is a significant public document, which neither time nor event can obliterate from my memory as a document-minded journalist. I would like to restate without hesitation that if the Tinubu administration can handle current recourse to the report well, it can actually be a game changer as I have written several times on the document. Below is an excerpt from what I wrote on the report…

‘Lagos NURTW generates N123bn annually’ THE above was the subtitle of the last paragraph of the third piece last week, which was a report of how a transport workers union inside Lagos taxes their members to generate revenue for some unknown powers. And so there is a correlation between the oppression of that oppressed class in Lagos and the present darkness that can trigger a revolt of “the wretched of the earth”. Read on: “On July 22… 2021 the International Centre for Investigative Report (ICIR) revealed in a major report that the Lagos chapter of the National Union of Road…

‘WHEN we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe… And it is clear that in the colonial countries, the peasants alone are revolutionary, for they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The starving peasant, outside the class system is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For him there is no compromise, no possible coming to terms; colonisation and decolonisation is simply a question of relative strength’. ― Frantz Fanon On Sunday July 23, 2023, the oracle in this column looked into…

I HAD planned to write on leadership lessons from the late General Murtala Muhammed who was assassinated 48 years ago. Tuesday this week is the anniversary of that sad memory. I had wanted to remind our leaders in Nigeria who are beginning to blame their predecessors for their poor leadership after eight months in office that the great leader, Hurricane Murtala spent only six months in office and was able to achieve three significant things we can’t easily forget. The three remarkable things include incredible creation of a brand new capital for the federation. He set up a powerful panel…

AGAIN, Abuja as an idea and reality, clocked 48 years yesterday (February 3, 1976 – February 3, 2024) without any fanfare. There should be some plaudit, however, to the management of the Abuja History and Archives Department because they marked the 32nd anniversary of the capital relocation proper (December 12, 1991 – December 12, 2023) in Abuja last December where I delivered a keynote, among other influential speakers and stakeholders in Abuja. My keynote then included the fact that even the very tolerant Abuja original inhabitants should not be allowed to continue to campaign for Abuja to be made one…

BEFORE some headline and title readers arrive on this scene to deplore this article before reading it, let me quickly state from the outset that this stuff isn’t about the elite in the North some of whom have been quite remarkable in their interventions on National issues. This commentary is about our nation’s capital some crisis merchants in power would like to use to get attention again at this perilous time. And here is the thing, Abuja, the symbol of our national unity has never been in short supply of such scoundrels. In the same vein, there have been good…

‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom’ (Psalm 90:12). I WANTED to write on the possible return of Donald Trump to power and what it means to the world when this classic prayer of Moses, hit me again like a thunderbolt at the weekend. The jolt came when I was told that death struck in Abuja and I lost a dear sister in-law, I fondly call Sister Gloria. I wrote the first part of this article here on Sunday July 25, 2021 after witnessing a remarkable funeral service where we celebrated the…

I POSED this same question to former President Muhammadu Buhari here on Sunday July 24, 2022. I noted then that this is a time to be cynical and censorious about the state of the nation. It isn’t too much to claim today that things have become more complicated than what they were in July 2022 when I asked the then president whose government was directionless and wobbly. Doubtless, this is also a defining moment to counsel crisis merchants who live by the temple of sycophancy and propaganda that they should sheathe their swords at this perilous time. We need to…