Opinion

Corruption in Nigeria is a major problem which has a devastating human cost. Without doubt, corruption kills people and traps millions more in poverty. It also undermines the global economy and threatens national security, growth and progress. The largely hidden truth is that commercial banks in Nigeria play an integral role in enabling this unpatriotic act. Corrupt officials need somewhere to hide stolen money. Yet while laws and regulations apply which require banks to do a range of checks to detect the proceeds of corruption, many banks fail to uphold them. As result they are leaving the door wide open…

Dear Mr President, WHY SERVICE CHIEFS SHOULD GO The intention of this letter is actually to appeal to the service chiefs to turn up their letters of voluntary retirement after they have served their mandatory tenures, and another extended years of service. Since their stay in office is at the discretion of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I have rather decided to write this letter, appealing to you in the spirit of fairness, standard procedure and progression in the service to allow the longest-serving service chiefs go after exceeding their run-out dates (ROD), which is the mandatory…

  THE debate on which zone produces Nigeria’s president in 2023, which is not new, has gained gravitas with the defection of Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC. Umahi claimed he defected because the PDP has never zoned the presidency to the South East since the return to civil rule in 1999, despite the massive support the party enjoys in the zone. Worse still, in his view, the PDP does not seem keen on doing so in 2023. But he did not say whether the APC apparatchik promised…

Yesterday, the 19 Northern governors, national Assembly members from North, traditional rulers and other critical stakeholders and strategic intellectuals from the North met in Kaduna, a city renowned for its long history of hosting some of the most strategic gatherings and if you must, conspiracies, of the North. The Inspector-General of Police was also present, and you know what, the media was just allowed to take pictures before the main meeting commenced, in strict confidentiality. They give to the media what they want the media to get. The North is not more homogeneous than the South like some people have…

One thing I have come to understand about the present Abia State government and her methods aimed at covering the abysmal performance we have witnessed in the past 6 years is to recruit a regiment of jobless youths that have come to classify themselves as media Practitioners, (at least they feel so within themselves). And to give value and credence to their henchman jobs, they are called Aides to "His Excellency" to give them sense of duty and belonging. But I am not perturbed by their antics as I will continue to call spade a spade at any point in…

Nigeria has a reputation for being the world poverty capital. Poverty in Nigeria is socially constructed, economically circumscribed and politically weaponized. In Nigeria, two diametrically opposed groups exist - the politicians and the people. While the politicians flaunt in ostentatious display of looted wealth, the poor masses wallow in poverty of multidimensional proportion. Deeply rooted in the Nigerian system are systemic corruption, entrenched injustice and structural violence. All these variables combined conduces to psychological brutalizations, economic deprivations, social exclusion and political marginalization. Over the years, genuine agitations for restructuring and institutional reforms have been responded with resistance and sometimes use…