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September, 2007

YAR’ADUA’S 100 DAYS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP
by Folorunso Elegbede
September 11, 2007
Leadership as a concept unarguably is the engine that drives all successful enterprise globally. A right leader chosen or elected with an enabling environment is sure to pilot the affairs of an organization to achieving its set objectives. The undoing of all undeveloped nations is that they have been unfortunate to have selfish and self serving leaders piloting their affairs. NigerianNews Guest Column

August, 2007

THE CLOCK TICKS FOR PRESIDENT UMAR MUSA YAR’ADUA
by Chiso Obiandu
August 31, 2007
Democracy is a vital element for the development of a nation and the most appreciated system of government all-over the world. When you talk about democracy in this country, the Olusegun Obasanjo era takes the chunk of it. In the history of a nation, eight years of an era divided by forty six cannot give an insignificant result-especially for a nation with only a few positive landmarks. NigerianNews Guest Column

DOLLARISATION OF THE NAIRA
by Joseph A. Owumi, Sr., DBA
August 20, 2007
I read with dismay, various articles on the announcement of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, regarding his proposed policy on the “Strategic Agenda for the Naira”. The proposal as described by various newspapers across the country is a re-valuation, re-denomination, or decimalization of the Naira, by establishing a conversion rate of N1.25 to $1.00 USD come August 2008. NigerianNews Guest Column

Suffering in the midst of plenty: The dilemma of Conoil pensioners.
by Oluwasegun Ajayi
August 16, 2007
Colton once said that a man who will not permit his wealth to do any good to others while he is living, prevents it from doing good to himself when he is dead. Not everyone can be rich but everybody should be able to afford what he or she needs. A man is rich not because he is better than his neighbour but because God in his infinite mercy granted him the grace to be rich. Many people will disagree with Beecher that, no man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. NigerianNews Guest Column

Burden of an Unpassing Past
by Anthony A Kila
August 15, 2007
There is a consensus in the corporate world that Africa as a whole and Nigeria in particular, is the market of the future. Most researchers and investors agree that Nigerians, for example, just need to be informed about the existence and quality of certain goods and services and demands will come from individuals and private organisations. NigerianNews Guest Column

April, 2007

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ALHAJI UMARU YAR’ADUA
by Sesan Bello
May 29, 2007
Today, it gladdens my heart to see someone of your calibre assume the office of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria even in the light of huge campaigns mounted against your electoral victory by both treacherous and honest democrats. Now, it is all over, our nation needs to move forward, and I say, Congratulations… Welcome on- board. NigerianNews Guest Column

MARCHING US TO THE LAND
by Sesan Bello
May 03, 2007
Increasing demands for good governance in Nigeria has, no doubt, pushed political analysis and commentaries to the limit. But a rather disappointing aspect of it is its recurrent failure in helping to shape up and refine opinions where they matter most. Rather, what people offer are so bursting with absurdities and ambiguities that the listening electorates sometimes become confused while justifying diverse opinions they’ve got to struggle with. NigerianNews Guest Column

TRANSITION ON POOLS OF BLOOD: NIGERIAN WOMEN SHOULD PROTEST MASS KILLINGS by Chinyere Ojide
April 10, 2007
Once upon a time, Liberia became one of the bloodiest African countries from the era of Samuel Doe to that of Charles Tailor. Human life became cheaper than that of chicken and women and children were the ultimate passive victims because a family who had the father or the able bodied men butchered out of existence was finished. Liberian political juntas were too bloody that even women had to protest. NigerianNews Guest Column

ATIKU ABUBAKAR, NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND COURT JUDGMENTS
by Chief Gani Fawehinmi, LLD, SAN
April 08, 2007
Certainly, the 2007 General Elections are entering an unusual quagmire. Suddenly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) appears to have become the legal adviser to Atiku Abubakar by the way the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been reacting to court judgments affecting Atiku Abubakar. NigerianNews Guest Column | Related Issue

Continuity in Government
by George O. A. Uwaifo
April 08, 2007
The general elections are just a few days away and surprisingly, the magnitude of the rancor and confusion in our political atmosphere is overwhelming. A lot of pending court cases with a string of appeals and contra-appeals as well as strong verbal exchanges between major political candidates and the federal government. NigerianNews Guest Column

March, 2007

A Chance to Rise and Shine
by Anthony A Kila
March 01, 2007
Contrary to what many people believe and imagine in Nigeria, partly because of their need to project their hopes and aspirations for a better life outside a country that tends to only limit and disappoint them and partly due to the flamboyant life many of our fellow Diasporans led when they go back home on holiday, we all know life is very demanding in the West and I know Nigerians are very busy people abroad. I therefore wish to sincerely thank you all Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, and our Friends for taking the time to be with us here today. NigerianNews Guest Column

February, 2007

NIGERIA’S POLITICAL LEXICON; WORDS OR PHRASES YOU NEED TO KNOW TO UNDERSTAND NIGERIAN POLITICS AND POLITICIANS.
by Ibiyinka Solarin
February 01, 2007
This article assumes you wish to understand the ways of Nigerian politics. Right? The following are some of the words, concepts and phrases you need to know, so you do not become totally confused in trying to understand Nigerian politics and process NigerianNews Guest Column

January, 2007

DELAYING THE KEBBI 2007 BUDGET: A CALL FOR CONCERN
by Musa Abdullahi Mai-Gwandu
January 10, 2007
The dilatory tactics employed by the authorities in Kebbi state in passing the 2007 Budget has been something of a serious concern to the indigenes and all lovers of the state. NigerianNews Guest Column

Daring to hope
by Pat Utomi
January 02, 2007
ON the eve of Christmas I visited the offices of ThisDay Newspapers to express my condolences following the violent demise of the Chairman of the editorial board, Godwin Agbroko, who fell to bullets of assailants yet unknown. That day I could feel despair so thick you could reach out and grab it. NigerianNews Guest Column

2006 AD

African Predicament: A Problem of Bad Leadership or a Cultural Defect?
by Alh. Ibrahim M. I. Obaretin
October 31, 2006
It is not unusual to hear African elites, home and abroad, blaming African leaders for the predicament of the African continent. This position is not absolutely wrong; it is however a parochial appraisal of the situation. NigerianNews Guest Column

Atiku's Bundle
by D. D Xavier
September 14, 2006
In developed societies where the rule of law, order and decorum prevail, the right thing for any public office holder indicted in acts of impropriety or abuse of office is to resign. Over and over again we have seen this happen in the USA and Britain. NigerianNews Guest Column

Nigerian Leaders Hark! What is the Value of a Man?
by D. D Xavier
September 22, 2006
Airplane crashes are joltingly painful, especially to friends and relatives of the crash victims, yet, they are poignant reminders of the ephemeral nature of life. NigerianNews Guest Column

South-East, South-South and Leadership in Nigeria
by Anthony A Kila
December 29, 2006
A recent private conversation I had just before Christmas with an informed and well-known Nigerian of Igbo origin left me stunned and challenged as an individual and as a Nigerian citizen. It also made feel me sad and embarrassed. NigerianNews Guest Column

Some Indecent Proposals for a Decent Future
by Anthony A Kila
December 12, 2006
In Nigeria, there is a small minority of people who, through their activities and fauxpas, have succeeded in completely destroying almost the whole country mentally and materially. We doubt if it is through conscious action, but it is clear that this handful of people have twisted themselves into, and have been crooked into, the stumbling blocks that stand between the large majority and a decent future. NigerianNews Guest Column

Season for Suspension of Political Apathy
by Anthony A Kila
October 19, 2006
For most students of political science, one of the most known poems is, or should be, “Politics” by W. B. Yeats. It is a short poem of one stanza written in 1938, in which Yeats challenges and refutes Thomas Mann’s perspective about the centrality of politics in the life an individual. NigerianNews Guest Column

Utomi’s Bid Is an Asset to Be Treasured
by Anthony A Kila
August 28, 2006
When the news came through that the Nigerian law-makers had rejected the constitutional amendment aimed at allowing President Olusegun Obasanjo and other executives to seek a third term in office, Nigerians across the world rejoiced and jubilated. NigerianNews Guest Column

When Shall African Countries be liberated from Bad Leadership?
by Okoro Monday Akinyemi
June 30, 2006
Poor leadership in Africa has been the cause for underdevelopment. If people with good track records are elected into power, the position and situation of Africa wouldn’t have remained "poverty, hunger and underdevelopment". NigerianNews Guest Column

ODILI’S FUTILE QUEST FOR THE PRESIDENCY
by Silva Amadi
June 19, 2006
With the apparent demise of OBJ’s third term agenda, the stage has been set for political gladiators and opportunists to profile themselves and their favoured candidates for the exalted office of President, since there may be a vacancy in that office after all. NigerianNews Guest Column

BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND PHONOCRACY
by Soga Odubajo
Democracy in its original term means government of the people, for the people, by the people. This we could break down as a setting where the people choose their own representatives to do their wishes, these wishes include making life easy to live and comfortable for everyone, regardless of whatever kind of status. NigerianNews Guest Column

MONDAY QUARTERBACKING: The May Month that Shook Nigeria
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD.
So Biafra was on Nowa's mind - and so I place it on mine too today, as I retrieve from my deep archives a fair-use serialization that I first provided back in October 1996 - March 1997. It was from General Alexander Madiebo's book "The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War", Fourth Dimension Publishers, Enugu (1980), 411 pages. Madiebo was Commander Biafran Army.

MID-WEEK ESSAY: More on Resource Control - A few "Last Words"
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD.
Periodically, I give over my Essays to others whose contributions I wish to highlight. This time, I give it to two recent contributors on oil and resource control

Personal Encounters with Uncle Bola
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD.
A few days ago, a young Nigerian student came to my office, and I casually asked him whether he knew about the Ikeja explosions. He had not heard.    I gave him a copy of NDM’s Red Cross advert. “Ehn – are those dead bodies?”, he asked on looking at the picture.

The Monday Quarterbacking.
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD.
Monday Morning Quarter Backing

The Amazing of MKO's Name by President Clinton..
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD.
It takes no convincing that it must have been a result of cold calculation rather than an oversight. Imagine mentioning SO MANY NAMES - including one or two dubious ones - and not mentioning MKO whose blood watered the ground of our present so-called "nascent democracy.

SUNDAY MUSINGS: Sharia - Catalyst for the Present SNC Discourse
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD
Burtonsville, MD, USA Sunday, March 12, 2000
Man proposes, but God disposes," as the saying typically inscribed on an Ekene-Dili-Chukwu-like bus would say. If the present national discourse about the occurrence or otherwise of a Sovereign National Conference in our country was the intention of the Sharia proponents, then they have succeeded famously in re-igniting a national consciousness. If it was not their intention, then Sharia as presently canvassed is a God-sent "faux-pas", a mistake of biblical proportions.

Sovereign National Conference, Sovereignty and Federation: Nationalities as Federating Units. (Part II).
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi
Mr. Elekwachi is of the School of Law, Flinders University of South Australia. He is the winner of Flinders University's 1999 "Butterworths Prize in Public Law and Regulation".All responses to E-mail:a saweze@primus.com.au

Fulani Oligarchy and the death of Bola Ige
Femi Awoniyi. January 06, 2002
Bola Ige was one of a very few number of our politicians in the South who have been able to cut through to the core of our dilemma: the Fulani politics of power supremacy. He was no rabble-rouser who indiscriminately lumped more than 150 diverse peoples who inhabit the north of our country together as "these Northerners".

Ethnic Violence In Nigeria, Who To Blame?
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi.
Ethnic violence in Nigeria has flared up again, this time in Lagos. Hundreds of lives have been lost. Government has undertaken steps to purportedly proscribe legitimate nationalist movements. This article argues that the Government is in error in its approach to the problems. It identifies the root cause of ethnic violence and points Government to the correct solution to the problems.

World Igbo Congress 2000: The Tasks Before Ndiigbo.
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi.
It is recommended that Congress mandate OHANEZE and any relevant committees to continue to work with the Yoruba, Ijaw and other nationalities which have a common aim of achieving self-determination and autonomy within one truly Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Senator Kuta's Panels and Limits of Parliamentary Power of Inquiry
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi.
As the Senate considers the Senator Kuta Panel's report it is urged, in the interest of democracy, to uphold the separation of power provisions in the Constitution and refer these matters to the Executive and the Judiciary to be dealt with according to the law and the Constitution of Nigeria 1999.

Killing Bakassi Boys: Et Tu Ogbulafor
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi.
This article criticises the recent Federal Government decision to selectively crack down on vigilante groups. It raises several issues, political and otherwise, and credibility questions arising from the decision.

What Use Is My Life
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi.
This true story is dedicated to all those who perished in rickety boats in the seas between the Cameroons, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.

Does NDM have any problem directly with the executive or is it with the President? Or is it the leadership of the NDM? A Rejoinder
Timothy Olatunji Otunde. Chicago, IL
I submit that the death that occurred through Political/religious/economic violence in Nigeria during the past year is less than the highest similar murder rate or raw data in most of the US cities in the same period.

Sovereign National Conference, Sovereignty and Federation: Nationalities as Federating Units. (Part I).
Francis Nnamdi Elekwachi
Mr. Elekwachi is of the School of Law, Flinders University of South Australia. He is the winner of Flinders University's 1999 "Butterworths Prize in Public Law and Regulation".All responses to E-mail: asaweze@primus.com.au

The Social and Economic Implications of Sharia Law
Sam A. Aluko, Professor of Economics
Contribution to the Seminar Organised by the Chapel of Annunciation, Archbishop Vining College of Theology, Akure, Ondo State, on Sunday, 28th November, 1999

SHARIAH AND NIGERIANS: ARE WE HEADING TOWARDS COALITION OR COLLISION?
Rev. Lawrence A. Lasisi, California, USA
I have nothing against Islam and neither do I have opposition to any Muslim that may want Shari’ah. But I strongly believe that some lines must de drawn as to how to implement Shari’ah without jeopardizing the volatile and fractured unity of our nation.