Clay Richie

I have been amused, reading a number of jokes concerning the frequency of the President, Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign trips. Questions have been raised about why so many visits, and what are the benefits Nigeria is getting?

At least seven persons were killed and an unspecified number of teenage girls abducted in Bam Village, about seven kilometers away from Buratai village, the home town of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on Sunday during an attack by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

President Muhammadu Buhari declared Sunday in Malta that violent extremism and terrorism can only thrive and endure if good people remain idle and complacent. Buhari, according to a statement signed by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, made the declaration while speaking on behalf of other participating African Heads of State and Government at the closing Executive Session of the 2015 Commonwealth Summit. President Buhari said that he was confident that terrorism will be ultimately defeated with greater international cooperation and collaboration.

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”  – Malcolm X

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, says terrorism in Nigeria indirectly created by northern leaders, who used religion to deceive poor Muslims. Kukah said this in his keynote address at a conference organised by the Islamic Welfare Foundation at the Fountain University, Osogbo.

The tragic death of Prince Abubakar Audu just when he was about to clinch the peoples mandate has without a doubt opened up potentials for political opportunists who otherwise have no political cloud to claim the trust and confidence of Kogites. The death of Prince Audu has given such political parasites the opportunity to reap from the political vacuum created by his death.

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described the last six months of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration as that of “deceitful change,” lamenting that the President was destroying the image of Nigeria and its people for cheap international recognition.

I begin this piece by reminiscing about a good old Christian song I used to sing and enjoy back in the days. It goes as follows; “This mountain shall be removed This mountain shall be removed in Jesus Name This mountain shall be removed By the spirit says the Lord”

One of the finest persons I have been privileged to know is Odia Ofeimun: the man has a clean heart, he is completely incapable of malice, and in the face of all odds, he has a sunny view of life, add to that his incandescent mind, his absolute brilliance from which has poured forth a prodigious volume of poetry collections, books, essays, years of journalism practice and a reputation as a public intellectual of the very first rank. Odia as I call him, although he is more popularly known as Baba among the younger generation of writers, is also an incurable idealist, very stubborn to a fault with his idealism and this is where we oftentimes differ.

Your Excellency, it’s been months since I wrote my desperate memo to you. I wish to thank you once more for reacting promptly and swiftly at that time and for giving me the honour and privilege of meeting you in your office. I remember presenting you a special compilation of my articles, especially the many admonitions to your immediate predecessor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

More of the children of the poorest of our compatriots are educated in private schools sprouting across the breathe of slum dwellings in urban conundrums like Lagos. But my understanding of realities did not hit until a British Professor from Newcastle walked into my office not so long ago. It was like Bartimaeus meeting Jesus. Lord that I may see.

After extensive consultations, the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday submitted the name of Yahaya Bello as the party’s new candidate for Kogi governorship supplementary poll. Bello replaces Prince Abubakar Audu, who died last weekend after leading the poll with 41,000.

When the Nigerian wakes up and thinks of basket cases of authoritarianism like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, and Sudan, where the state can hang you or disappear you just like that, his instinct is to thank God that his own failed and corrupt democracy is slightly better than those places.

Barely three weeks in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has shocked Ministers with poor salaries and austere allowances. He has also imposed dos and don’ts on the ministers including travel restrictions. Most Ministers were said to be embarrassed by the perks of office accruable to them in office.

The Federal Government is yet to put a specific figure to the amount of money so far returned by those who looted the treasury, as disclosed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Minister of Finance,  Mrs. Kemi Adeosun,  told journalists , at yesterday’s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee , FAAC, meeting, in Abuja, that the process was still on-going.

Apart from the tragic ending and the fumbles that marked the Kogi gubernatorial election last week, there are numerous lessons that spewed from that election that are compliant with the much-cherished change we have in Nigeria today.  Prince Abubakar Audu, the undisputed winner of the stymied election, dropped dead just after the election was curiously declared inconclusive by a fumbling INEC that misinterpreted certain portions of the electoral act to cull a needless supplementary election that will not affect the certain victory of the APC candidate.

Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) Ralph Uwazuruike, says it’s impossible for the Ndigbo to take up arms against the Nigerian state. Uwazuruike said the South-East states are landlocked and as such, do not have the needed deep sea ports to bring in arms and ammunition to wage a war.

“You look sleepy” “My brother, let’s just say I slept at a fuel station, looking for fuel.” “For which of the women in your life, because I hear these days, to please a woman in Nigeria, you must be ready to supply the three major things lacking in the land: money, fuel, and happiness.”

Nigeria’s is a fascinating story of a corrupt country without a single corrupt person. In late September 2006, Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told Nigerian senators that the agency had dossiers implicating numerous top political officials in 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states.

President Muhammadu Buhari has spent more than 40 days in trips to different parts of the world since he was sworn in on May 29, 2015. The president’s frequent foreign trips have come under scrutiny and criticism as Nigeria faces myriad crises, from intractable fuel shortages to terrorist assaults in the country’s northeast.

Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has said that President Mohammadu Buhari was setting Nigeria on the path of anarchy by using his personal lawyer and member of All Progressives Congress (APC) who is the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to induce the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decision on the inconclusive Kogi State Governorship election.

Two events played out on Monday, one in Kogi and the other in Abuja which, put together, tell a compelling story about our country and its future. In Kogi, shortly before the late gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Abubakar Audu was buried, a ‘prophet’ appeared to embark on what turned out to be a futile effort. On the same day in Abuja, thousands of people flying the flags of Biafra were on rampage at the end of which some of them posted out statements, claiming “victory” for their cause.

It is not uncommon for cowards to stage different con tactics to escape all responsibilities for their criminal acts. The most popular and the most successful one is feigning illness. Lu Xiang, a Chinese anti-graft prosecutor once told a Chinese Court that corrupt officials often fake illness to dodge trial. Since 2009, Lu Xiang has handled more than 90 major corruption cases, 17 of which involved bureau-level cadres, 19 at departmental level, and 47 cases involving people who had received one million yuan (about $1.26 million) or more in bribes.

The spasms of rage that followed the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra and Director of Radio Biafra, in some parts of South East Nigeria have morphed into a theatre and taken a life of its own. From effervescence of anger, the Biafra secession protest has solidified into a commonwealth of irredentism, leapfrogged to the top of urgent national troubles and compelled a deregulated debate on the sanctity of Nigerian unity.

The politicking that characterized the build-up to the governorship election in Kogi state may be unbeknownst to many, leaving for so much speculation when news broke of Abubakar Audu’s death. But the situation certainly is not a coincidence, as some are already bandying about. The Yoruba adage that says the sheep that moves around with the dog will certainly feed on excreta sure passes for a go in the situation under review.

With the coast now clear for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to use its discretion in nominating a suitable replacement for its late governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, based on the doctrine of necessity, indications emerged yesterday that the party may select its governorship candidate for the supplementary governorship election from among four choices.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday announced that it would conduct fresh primaries to determine a replacement for its late candidate, Abubakar Audu, in the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State.

Speaking from a cramped and makeshift office, a top Nigerian civil servant says his minister, Udoma Udo Udoma, has spent much of the fortnight since his appointment in meetings trying to work out his team’s remit. Reuters News Agency reports that Udoma’s new Ministry of Budget and National Planning reduces the power of the finance ministry – previously responsible for allocating spending – and, the civil servant says, will “help ministries to synergise”.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday disclosed that some past government officials who stole public funds while in the saddle have started returning parts of their loots to government coffers voluntarily. He however said he was not satisfied yet as his government would stop at nothing to ensure all stolen funds and not a fraction was recovered.

The Nigerian Army has said that some officers within its rank are in cahoot with some outside forces to embarrass the military and the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai. According to Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, the officers and their collaborators are going to: “to execute this plan as from next month, December 2015, using all means possible lies, fabricating baseless stories, falsehood, publishing and broadcasting them through some designated print and electronic media, most especially the Social Media.”

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka chose the occasion of the commissioning of a mega school named after him in the state of Osun to lash out Monday at President Muhammadu Buhari and his team over the non-rescue of 219 Chibok schoolgirls, almost six months since Buhari’s inauguration.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said there was an urgent need for reform in the judiciary which allowed delay tactics by lawyers, aided by some judges, to stall corruption trials and hinder recovery of proceeds of crime in high profile corruption cases.

Th law was laid down for Nigeria’s ministers when they were sworn into office last week. No corruption, their austere president, Muhammadu Buhari, told them. Obey the law and work together, because expectations are high. Behave in keeping with the times. Refrain from gaudy displays of wealth (“Not that some of us have much to display,” one appointee laments). It has taken almost six months for the former dictator, now elected, to install his cabinet, but for those who made the cut his message is simple: winning high office is no longer a licence to rob the public purse. Unlike many of their predecessors, the new ministers must prioritise reform.

 Nigeria must change its steps on the foreign relations dance floor Time Magazine, October 20, 1961, carried an opinion titled ‘The Pride of Africa.’ The piece chronicled the 1st Foreign Affairs Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the late Jaja Wachuku of the Ngwa royal dynasty. With all due respect, the Nigerian Foreign ministry has since groped for direction and – with a few exceptions – has been largely unimpressive.

Former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki was a very powerful man in a government where power and money gloated from up high at Nigeria’s problems. But how good is he at gambling, poker, or common sense?  Not very, it would appear.

The death of Prince Audu, Governorship candidate of the APC in the inconclusive Kogi Governorship Poll, held on Saturday 21st November, 2015, has created serious legal and constitutional conundrum that demands urgent and quick judicial address and resolution.

Among the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo are without a doubt, one of the most remarkable. So remarkable, indeed, that some have even traced their ancestry to biblical Israel, as the far-flung descendants of Jacob, the Jewish patriarch. Gad, Jacob’s seventh son, is said to have had three sons who settled in South-eastern Nigeria.

The source of death of Abubakar Audu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21 governorship election of Kogi state, has been revealed. According to TheCable, a source confirmed that Audu died after suffering stroke on two different occasions on Sunday.

The saying: “He who must come to equity must come with clean hands” has eventually caught up with Danladi Umar who has running from pillar to post to cover up his transgressions since the news of his N10 million bribery scandal broke out.

Nigeria is a dynamic place really. We claim to be a secular state yet we belong to religious organizations, recognize sharia and spend billions of naira annually to fund pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mecca. Like a swarm of bees, top government officials lead Nigerian pilgrims to the Holy lands every calendar year. I found the following excerpts from the website of the National Bureau of Statistics particularly interesting and apt:

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, I visited an uncle who has enormous interest in “the end times”. I often got into an argument with him. My point was that I was not interested in end times. I would tease him: “What is my business with 666, anti-Christ and mark of the beast? My worry is how well I am using my life today. Am I caring for the widows and orphans as it is expected of me? Am I preaching the gospel with diligence? That is what matters to me, not 666.” He would tell me not to be ignorant of the “devices of the devil” which could keep me from “understanding the times”. My conclusion was always that we had different interests.

The stage is all set for the elections tomorrow between incumbent Governor Idris Wada of the PDP and Prince Abubakar Audu of the APC in the first of the deregularised gubernatorial elections across the country after the Aprill 11 gubernatorial elections.

Fellow Nigerians, one of my favourite jokes often credited to Chief Moshood Abiola is the one in which he says: “The Holy Bible tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves, it didn’t say more than ourselves!” Nothing could be truer. The thesis I am about to propound is that journalists should begin to love and celebrate themselves more. We do not seem to appreciate the power that God has endowed us with.

Items such as the railways and power have no business being on the exclusive list. It should be put on the concurrent list while the Federal government’s allocation in the revenue formula should be reviewed downwards. A situation where the Federal government sits atop 52.8% of our revenue while 36 States share a meagre 26% is an anomaly that concentrates too much power at the centre. We will continue to have challenges if states continue to go cap in hand to Abuja to collect monthly oil revenue without which they can’t exist.

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Last Friday was a black Friday for the French people. It was a night the Eagles of Death Metal, an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, was rocking the city of Paris with melodious music. In the midst of joy, grief came as terrorists visited the concert venue and five other locations in Paris with multiple attacks.

Those that had written off President Muhammadu Buhari’s political sagacity must have swallowed the humble pie when the President unfolded the portfolios of his star-studded cabinet. Nigerians, which had been wearied by the endless wait for #TheList as it was fondly referred to on new media instantly jumped up in virtual jubilation and adulation.

Aung San Suu Kyi writes in Letters from Burma: “I have never ceased to be moved by the sense of the world lying quiescent and vulnerable, waiting to be awakened by the light of the new day quivering just beyond the horizon…” That new day and awakening arrived on November 8 on Burma’s (Myanmar) 2015 election day and with the subsequent announcement of the final tally of the election results. But something even more remarkable happened. The military leaders have congratulated Suu Kyi and her party. The elections have been adjudged free and fair.

Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan speaking to a selected audience at National Democratic Institute in Washington DC On presidential elections and democratic consolidation in Africa denies approving 2 billion contract procurement for weapons.

Former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo has said that the former President Goodluck Jonathan had the worst economic management team in history because he left Nigeria with an unprecedented rate of debt accumulation.