Editorial commentary. There is nothing the matter in getting old and frail, not if one insists on engaging in activities that demand mental and physical dexterity. It is also not a shame to admit that one has lost a step or two due to old age or infirmity, but it will be an act of disservice to one’s office not to admit of such disability until it causes harm or continues to harm irreparably the functions of the office. Mr. Tinubu’s recent incident in Turkey while on a state visit illustrates this observation. Developing countries everywhere need guidance and tireless…
Author: CASADE
Commentary. The complete disregard for moral decency, ethical behavior, and the rule of law by Nigerian politicians and senior government officials since the late 1970s has steadfastly sipped downwards to the broader society. The brazen theft of public funds by senior Nigerian officials continues unabated with incredible expediency afforded by Nigerian lawyers, specifically those commonly referred to as SAN (Senior Advocate of Nigeria). The legal profession everywhere else takes pride in upholding governing laws and regulations that guide conduct in their respective jurisdictional competence but far less can be said of their counterpart in Nigeria. In case after case, Nigerian…
John O. Ifediora. In all nations, the quality and relevance of countervailing social institutions matter. That this is the case is particularly of import since institutions are rules that govern individual and collective behavior in any society. In this regard reference is here made to primary and enabling rules and observances that inform and guide conduct, specifically religious, political and economic institutions. In nations where these social institutions have evolved to the point where individual rights and freedom of choice are accorded universal cognizance with appropriate checks and protection, the polity is reasonably well-adjusted, informed and productive. Under this state…
Female genital circumcision is a procedure that requires the excision of some …
John O. Ifediora Zambians woke up last week to the sight of Chinese nationals in Zambian police uniforms in their capital city of Lusaka. The eight Chines nationals were enlisted as reserve officers in the Zambian police force with powers to detain and arrest. The awkwardness of the optics was not lost on onlookers; first a spectacle of amusement, and then one of anger and outcry as the implications of what was being observed were gradually absorbed. The country’s Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kakoma Kanganja, in a futile effort to calm frayed nerves, issued a statement that the appointments…
Kenneth Mohammed. State capture is growing on every continent but only because the west helps to launder and hide money stolen by kleptocrats Last week, John Penrose, Boris Johnson’s anti-corruption tsar, resigned in protest at his leader’s apparent breach of the ministerial code during Partygate. In January, Lord Agnew resigned as a Treasury minister, angered at the government’s negligence in allowing fraud to occur in its Covid contracts and loans. Both were standing up against corruption through bad governance and poor leadership. Last month, as part of the launch of its excellent publication Understanding Corruption, the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption…
John O. Ifediora. Zambians woke up on several days in early April, 2021 to the sight of Chinese nationals in Zambian police uniforms in their capital city of Lusaka. The eight Chinese nationals were enlisted as reserve officers in the Zambian police force with powers to detain and arrest. The awkwardness of the optics was not lost on onlookers; first a spectacle of amusement, and then one of anger and outcry as the implications of what was being observed became unambiguous. The country’s Inspector General of Police, Mr. Kakoma Kanganja, in a futile effort to calm frayed nerves, issued a…
John O. Ifediora A common argument adduced in defense of Africa’s abysmal development pattern or lack of it is that African policy makers lack the will and dedication essential to craft and assiduously implement well-recognized socio-economic vectors that other countries in the West and South-East Asia have cleverly adopted to spur development. In the case of Nigeria, critics point to the fact that in 1960 South Korea and Nigeria had comparable levels of national income or parity in Gross Domestic Product. From this base level, it is then extrapolated to the present differential in economic performance by both countries and…
John O. Ifediora ** @ifediora_john Early Diasporan experience There is something about one’s country of origin that keeps tugging at the heart. The memories and experiences that defined one’s early existence are difficult to jettison even as the terminal stages of longevity approaches with horrifying speed. Nigerians living abroad are not immune to this uniquely primordial instinct, and it may be the case that this instinct is particularly more pronounced amongst Nigerians. This sentiment is not misplaced because observational evidence abounds to adduce positive testimony as readily seen from yearly migration of Nigerians to their land of birth in the…
In 1908 the first major oil exploration in Nigeria was conducted by Nigerian Bitumen Corporation, a German company. The search was unsuccessful. It took twenty-nine years for another serious undertaking to discover the presence of oil in 1937; this time the effort was led by a Dutch, and a British company – Shell and British Petroleum(BP). The companies formed a consortium known as Shell-BP Petroleum Development Company, and in 1939 received an Oil Exploration License from the federal government of Nigeria to drill for oil. In 1956 Shell-BP drilled the first productive oil well in Oloibiri, a town in the…