Tag: Nigeria

To Reclaim Political Relevance, Igbos Should Build Bridges, Not Barricades

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

Image result for ndigbo buhariMax Lucado’s book, You’ll Get Through This, digs deep into what it means to go through hard times and struggles and still come out triumphant. This book, centered on Joseph, from the Old Testament Bible, is meant for anyone or group that felt stuck or discouraged because of circumstance. There is no doubt that in Nigeria, most Igbos are discouraged and stuck, politically.

In the Bible, Joseph’s pit came in the form of a cistern. In Nigeria, the pit of Igbos came in the form of depression and paranoid after losing the 2015 and the 2019 Presidential elections. In the Bible, Joseph was thrown into a hole and despised. And we? Thrown into the political wilderness, confused and feeling cheated by the Nigerian political system.

In the pit, life is reduced to one quest: to get out and never get hurt again. Interestingly, this is not easily done. The first thing you will realize is that pits have no easy exit. But once in the pit, one thing you don’t want to do is keep digging, especially if you are serious about getting out. Continue reading “To Reclaim Political Relevance, Igbos Should Build Bridges, Not Barricades” →

Senseless Killings: The Political Obituary Of Buhari’s Presidency

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

buhari-kaduna

After three tumultuous years, Nigerians are entitled to ask what sort of administration, is Buhari’s Presidency? When it comes to the value of human life, is he insensitive, callous, or just incompetent? How could the Nigerian political class, security chiefs, ministers, senators and members of the House of Rep be sleeping peacefully in their hotel rooms guarded by heavily armed security men, while inhabitants at the foot of the plateaus and plains of the savannah are slaughtered by herdsmen and armed bandits? Will these senseless killings herald the political obituary of Buhari’s presidency?

I know I am treading on some very sensitive toes and making some people angry as hell but that does not concern me. What concerns me is the fact that human life is too precious to be wasted in senseless killing, so, I will ask again; what happened to the mentality of Buhari, the Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces and his security chiefs that life has become so cheap in Nigeria? This is an accurate assumption given how easy it for them to move on with life in a country where human lives are destroyed with impunity. Continue reading “Senseless Killings: The Political Obituary Of Buhari’s Presidency” →

How Ndigbo Can Help Innoson Dominate The Car Business

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

INNOSON-MOTORS-INNOCENT-Chukwuma-OFR

At the peak of the Innoso-GTBank saga last December, a friend challenged me to “find the courage to write about the travails of Innoson.” Another good friend poked me on Facebook to respond to a trash from the lunatic FFK. Before I could think, one angry Igbo man Okwy, accused some of us he referred to as “Igbo pan-Nigerians”, of watching as our “race is being destroyed.” So, I spent part of my Christmas thinking of an appropriate and measured response.

While I completely understand the concerns of Igbos in the current Nigerian political atmosphere riddled with suspicion, I am afraid that we are swallowing hook, line and sinker this fallacy that GTBank hates Innoson and Ndigbo. Here is the irony of the whole saga; The Directors of GTBank “who are mainly Yorubas” were so wicked and hate Ndigbo so much so that in 2009, they granted Dr. Innocent Chukwuma, Innoson loans totaling N2,400,000,000,00 (two billion, four hundred million Naira). Surely, they want his car business to crumble.

As an analyst, it is my job to make sense of things devoid of beclouded sentiment of ethnicity and religion. Think about it slowly; Innoson accepted a big loan at a terrible rate from an “enemy bank” when he could have obtained such facilities from an “Igbo Bank” at a better rate? While the going was good and Innoson was making all the profits, he never told Ndigbo that a Yoruba GTBank was after his business. It was only after the transaction went sore that Ndigbo were dragged into this logical fallacy that a Yoruba GTBank hates us and Innoson.

Continue reading “How Ndigbo Can Help Innoson Dominate The Car Business” →

Sorry APC, Arthur Eze And Orji Kalu, Anambra State Is Not For Sale

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

Orji Kalu and Arthur Eze 2

Anambra perhaps more than any other state in Nigeria has been notorious with political godfatherism. The influx of money in Anambra politics by the trio of Andy Ubah, Chris Ubah and Emeka Offor in 2003 and the subsequent kidnap of the then Governor Chris Ngige set a dangerous precedent in the history of godfatherism in Nigeria. Hoodlums sponsored by these godfathers burnt government buildings including ABS radio and TV stations when Chris Ngige rejected to mortgage the soul of the state to them. Our own Chinua Achebe later qualified these godfathers as politicians with plenty of money but very low IQ.

The November 2017 Governorship election in the state have once more raised serious questions about the damaging effect of godfatherism and the unfair use of federal government resources by governing political parties to gain an advantage over their opponents. The allegations that the current APC governorship candidate Dr. Tony Nwoye was chosen by moneyed interests, Arthur Eze and Orji Kalu, is not only troubling but dangerous.

I have kept my ears to the ground and I have heard the sound of black ant. Here is how we got Tony Nwoye as the APC candidate for November election:

Orji Uzor Kalu was given the mandate to deliver southeastern Nigeria to APC in preparation for the realignment of forces in the 2019 presidential election. The reward is that his charges with EFCC will be dragged out forever. At the same time, he was promised numerous federal government contracts and a say in who becomes the APC Presidential candidate in 2023.

He has so far “delivered” on the initial goal of pulling in some “prominent” Igbo politicians to APC including Ken Nnamani, Sullivan Chime, Jim Nwobodo, Andy Ubah, Chief Arthur Eze, Chuma Nzeribe etc.  In return for this, he was giving the freehand to pick the APC Governorship candidate in Anambra State. He subsequently “dashed” that right to Chief Arthur Eze, who is an uncle to his wife. Now, the vultures are once more hovering over the state, waiting to devour our commonwealth, should Tony Nwoye win.

So, yes, you should be terrified about the possibility of Tony Nwoye becoming Anambra State Governor. Anambra state should not according to Chinua Achebe be turned into “a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom.” Orji Kalu cannot give Ndi Anambra anything good. He turned Abia state to a wasteland. He gave Abia State the worst governor in forth Republic in the person of Theodore Orji. Ndi Anambra should, therefore, let Orji Uzor Kalu know that we are not Abia State. Continue reading “Sorry APC, Arthur Eze And Orji Kalu, Anambra State Is Not For Sale” →

Climate Literacy And The Future Of Food Security In Nigeria

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

Climate Liteacy 2The good people of Nigeria that live on the banks of Rivers Niger, Benue, Imo, Cross River, Gongola, Hadejia, Kaduna, Katsin-Ala, Ogun, Osun, Owena, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara Rivers etc. should not face food scarcity under any climate change scenarios.

The development and execution of a Master Plan that will involve the efficient use of perennial water resources in southern Nigeria is a shortcut to ensuring food security. In the face of increasing population and uncertainties such as climate change, these enormous water resources potential should be fully utilized by the state and federal governments.

All we need to do is take advantage of technological innovations to tap these untapped water resources at our backyards. Think of the capacity (cubic liters) of irrigation water we can easily harness from these untapped resources. The promotion of large-scale water management schemes to provide water resources for agriculture can thus guarantee enough water for year-round farming under present and future climate change scenarios.

Continue reading “Climate Literacy And The Future Of Food Security In Nigeria” →

Fani-Kayode And Vanguard Are Making A Death List Of Cockroaches To Be Saved

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

FFK-Vanguard 2By promoting hate, bigotry, and intolerance through Vanguard Newspapers, Femi Fani-Kayode has commenced a quiet but extraordinary plan to prevent ethnic disharmony in Nigeria. Using petrol, he has been extinguishing fires on the thatched roofs of different ethnic nationalities. His extensive use of nasty insults, connoting genocide that does the job of demeaning his subjects is good news in a multiethnic society like Nigeria where violence and hatred are already commonplace.
This duo of Vanguard and brother Fani-Kayode has been urging their audience to show empathy to members of different ethnic groups in Nigeria. For example, in “The enemy within, the cold-blooded threats from Arewa (1)”, published in Vanguard Newspapers, brother Fani-Kayode referred to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Pa Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as “traitors, cowards and cockroaches”. They characterized these Yoruba leaders as “traitors that led our people into the jaws of death and the poisonous fangs of the ravenous and insatiable Fulani monster”.  They concluded by labeling them “useless heap of dung, these cowardly animals.”

Stop to let these praiseworthy and noble expressions reverberate for a moment.

Continue reading “Fani-Kayode And Vanguard Are Making A Death List Of Cockroaches To Be Saved” →

2017 World Water Day: Clean Affordable Water For All Lagosians?

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

World Water Day 2017 FocusWater is a resource so precious that the United Nations General Assembly recognized “the right to safe and clean drinking water as a human right.”  According to WaterAid about 73,000 Nigerians died from lack of access to running water in 2014 compared to 4,000 lives claimed by the terror campaign of Boko Haram. The situation is not much different today. As we mark this year’s World Water Day (WWD) on March 22nd, therefore, the question is not whether a human right to water exists, but why are Nigerian states and federal governments not fulfilling it.

Continue reading “2017 World Water Day: Clean Affordable Water For All Lagosians?” →

2017 International Women’s Day: Aisha Yesufu As A Kite

Posted on by @Churchillnnobi

aisha-simply-fearlessI was particularly thrilled by the power and stubborn determination exhibited by Aisha Yesusfu in demanding for the rescue of Chibok Girls.

The blacksmith that does not know how to forge a metal gong should look at the tail of a kite. Aisha Yesufu is the kite Nigerian women should be looking at.

@Churchillnnobi