Peace in Nigeria

As we march in favour of democracy & development, let us not presume that the troubled peace in our country will self-resolve. Yet, this seems to be the general direction if not tendency we seem to be headed. Wrong, very wrong.

First off, we are not agreed on the root causes of the problem. Second, the forces of unity are at once rooted and floating! They want a big and bold country, bonded in egalitarian democracy but are not ready for full and fulfilling federalism. Third, we are disabling and dis-enabling our vibrant youth population, it's just mind-boggling and baffling. Fourth, we have ignored Nigerian women in nation building: can you beat that? Finally, the politicians are misusing both religion and ethnicity (two of our most cherished gems and core values) in blind pursuit of personal ambitions and unbridled brigandage. The result is the shame-soaked badge of worsening corruption and deepening poverty.

Tackle these at base and get on the firm path to democracy, development and peace - enduring peace.

Who will take us there? The political class, nudged by elders, battled by civil society, supported by the international community. The arrowhead? National Assembly.

Monitored and recorded by the Nigerian Media - fearlessly, robustly and patriotically.

Nigerian Credit Cards Worthless?

Just a composite poser for....

Our Banks, and bankers

Our President, and politicians

Our Parliament, and legislators

Our Ministers, and diplomats

Our Media, and pressmen

Our Universities, and academia

Our Private Sector, and businessmen:

How many of you can and do shop on the Internet with Credit Cards issued in Nigeria? How many of you shop on Amazon.com? How many of you have a PayPal Account?

If you don't have a resounding "POSITIVE" to the above so do 160m Nigerians. How come nobody is doing something about this denigration and offensive stigmatization?

And you "patriots" hobnob with your counterparts around the world?

Well, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala I'm looking at you. Olusegun Aganga I'm eyeing you. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi you dey for my radar!

FOI Bill, AT LAST!

Passed. Since everyone is congratulating the Senate, we must join in to say bravo! We still have to await the harmonization of the nine areas of differences with the House. Any reluctance on our part on this matter is suspended because the presidency has refuted reports of any “adversarial ambush” at the Villa! Do we have a perfect/preferred law yet? Nah.  But let dem sign this one, first. We wait.

How then do we put the point that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has yet to be treated in an economy that totally relies on this sector for survival? Not passing this all-important law before going for reelection was grossly insensitive on the part of parliament. After the polls, you can imagine the hard times ahead for things like “quorum“, “punctuality“, “kola“, “vested interests”, “blackmail”, etc. You know the story, and the insinuations, and all dem Wikileaks stuff! But again, we wait.

Kudos then to the National Assembly on the FoI Bill. Because they have a way of rising to the occasion (as with INEC case, Constitution Amendment, Third Term saga, Acting President issue, Minimum Wage matter, et al), we can safely say Kudos-in-Advance for the PIB Bill as well. Bravo!

Nigeria To Pass FoI Bill....At Last!

Nigeria's House of Reps has passed the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill. Good news! It now goes to the Senate for concurrence. Happily, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is reported to be awaiting it for immediate assent.

There are of course a few areas of concern to civil society: exemption of military budgets and lack of express provisions for citizen-action and protection. These can and should be resolved at "conference" once the Senate is fully sensitized and engaged. Otherwise, the next parliament should take up appropriate amendments fro July 2011.

Let us thank the reps for their part, and encourage the senators to do full justice to this bill once and for all.

The war against corruption may now look really serious!