Clay Richie

On Christmas Day of 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari hosted leading citizens of the Federal Capital Territory led by the minister of the FCT, Muhammad Bello, and during the visit he returned to his old habit of blaming and said, and I quote, “there was no money saved, no infrastructure built, and power is still our main problem.”

How have the times changed in my time? When I was a boy, Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ which is celebrated the world over on this date, was the happiest day on the calendar.  It brought family members—every family, everywhere as far as my young heart could grasp—home.

Predictably, many Nigerians are disgusted with the jubilation that greeted the release of former Delta governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, from UK prison on Wednesday. His friends and associates were over the moon. His community rolled out the drums. There were eulogies here and there. In my estimation, the celebration was sincere and affectionate. And that exactly was what irked many Nigerians: how could people genuinely celebrate the release of a convicted money launderer and fraudster? Shouldn’t they be appalled? Shouldn’t they stone him? Shouldn’t they ostracise him? What is this world turning into? These are the questions pervading the social media.

Fellow Nigerians, tomorrow is Christmas day and, it is only in order that, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This year has gone rather fast. I’m not sure if we all fulfilled our dreams but we must still thank God for His kind mercies for answering some of our prayers and more importantly for sparing our lives. Nothing is greater than life. And this is why we celebrate the death of every year and cuddle the emerging year with excitement and

By not providing the public with convincing reasons for some of its actions, the presidency has inadvertently exacerbated rumor-mongering, strife and all manners of analyses. This is not good for development.

For so long questions have been raised on why the public that often blames the government appears quite similar with the government they routinely criticise for negligence and lack of passion for progress.

Like a virus, the scandalous story of the Economic Financial and Crime Commission (EFCC) boss, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, authored by the Department of State Services, crashed conscience across the country last week.

This is the second piece in my 2017 budget analysis series. The first analysis focused on the budget of the State House (which was referred to as the Presidency in previous budgets). MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

I have never met Bukola Abiku Mesujamba Saraki. I don't know him from Adams. However, on the occasion of his 54th birthday, I want to extend my random act of kindness to wish him a very happy and fantastic birthday!

Mr Babachir David Lawal, though an engineer, looks every bit a fulfilled man having risen to the exalted position of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), but it’s doubtful whether it was on merit. His cavalier demeanour, careless talk and hypocrisy speak brightly to the underlining attributes that have become second nature to this government.

Although I am unable to agree that corruption is the most serious problem that Nigeria grapples with, I subscribe to efforts aimed at tackling the insidious scourge in the country. I hold that corruption is merely symptomatic of deeper failures in our nation, even as I agree that it bears debilitating effects and must be reduced to the utmost minimum.

That most Nigerians are going through one of the most depressing periods of their lives is to put the situation mildly. Indeed, there are perhaps only few people in our country today not affected by the economy and the seeming hopelessness that pervades the land. What compounds the problem is that there is no sign in the horizon that the challenge will go away quickly given the choices being made (or perhaps more appropriately, not being made) by those elected to preside over our affairs.

 So the moral is clear.It is the workers—les industrials—of all ranks and hierarchies who merit the highest rewards of society, and the idlers who deserve the least. But what do we find? By a strange miscarriage of justice, it is just the opposite: those who do the least get the most.” – Robert Heilbroner in The Worldly Philosophers.

Nigerians can be funny even under challenging conditions and extremely depressing situations. Despite the economic recession in the country, Nigerians are just not losing their wit and sense of humour. And that is why I cannot help but highlight a particular shared post I saw on Facebook by an author whose identity remains unknown before I go ahead to make my point this week about the state of affairs in our country as we prepare for Christmas and the New Year. Here is it:

When he was barely a few weeks in office, the world renowned Economist wrote a scathing criticism against his competence to run the demanding task of governing Lagos. The magazine concluded that Governor Akinwumi Ambode cannot fit into the big shoes left behind by his predecessor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, the present Minister of Works, Housing and Power. We were not persuaded by the tendentious arguments that led to this hasty conclusion and we said so. We maintained that The Economist wrote in a haste that was not known with the magazine. We stated that Governor Ambode will be a big hit, as his two predecessors, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Fashola. We knew that Lagos

It’s not a surprise that some folks are finally twisting the knife in the back of the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu. After working without a letter of appointment for one year and overstaying his confirmation by nearly six months, his current travails should not come as a surprise.

As the harmattan dust sweeps across Nigeria, the outlook for the economy is looking hairy. The head of steam dragging the economy along for the greater part of the decade is losing traction, and many are marking down their forecasts on signs that President Buhari’s economic team lacks the intellectual know how to steer the country out of recession.

President Buhari’s much-advertised fight against corruption has degenerated into a demolition derby. As happened with many previous efforts to fight corruption in Nigeria, different outposts of power and influence in the president’s coterie appear determined to use anti-corruption as a cover to settle intra-palace scores.

It feels like déjà vu. At this point in 2015 the economy was already showing signs of serious problems. Growth had slowed from an average of about six percent in 2014 to just about two percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Naira was under pressure with the Central Bank taking the unwise decision to peg the currency at N199 per US Dollar even though it was already trading at around N250 per Dollar in the black market. The pressures in the forex market fed into the rest of the economy with price increases across the board looking likely. The pressures were perhaps epitomized by the government-controlled fuel markets where the then PMS price of N87 per litre looked increasingly unsustainable. Intermittent periods of aviation fuel scarcity, usually a precursor to PMS scarcity, were already prevalent.

President Buhari should admit, today, not tomorrow, that his so-called war against corruption is unserious, tiresome, illegitimate, hypocritical, and a waste of Nigerians’ time. Right away, he ought to end the charade that claims to be a war. And then he should seek the best help he can find to focus on Nigeria’s grave economic and political crises.

Buhari apologists say I have never praised Buhari since he came to power. Well, that’s not my job. I am a scholar. But I have defended Buhari many times in the past when I thought he was unfairly attacked.

After “enormous resources” was deployed in search for oil on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad Basin by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a breakthrough was announced last week. According to Dr. Jamila Shua’ra, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, “Our doggedness culminated in the discovery of oil in new frontiers – Lagos and Borno.” This discovery (though the details are still shrouded in secrecy) is not surprising and is coming at the heels of similar finds in the adjoining Chad.

At a period like this when the cloud over Nigeria seems to be that of doom and gloom, it’s easy for the challenging job of keeping the country together and afloat to be unrecognized.

Cameroonians got their chance of introducing into the syllabus of Comedy and Other Comic Forms (a subject I taught in my other career), what seemed like a variant of the domestic nature of humour and wit, when in the last week and more days, they forced humour out of what seemed like an ordinary situation and added to the Ice Bucket Challenge and the Mannequin Challenge, what has become known internationally as the #Bidoung Challenge or the #CourberDosChallenge.

I just watched a horrific video of hundreds of young men in the traditional orange prison garb.

I wonder if there is anyone in authority in Nigeria who understands the brutal counsel offered recently by Ohis Ehimiaghe, Manager of the North, West and Central Africa Region for South African Airways.

Accident and Emergency clinics by their names are created purposely to safe lives. It aims to reduce casualties and ensure life’s continuity. Unfortunately, here in our clime, they do not serve such purposes but just a claim of it. A walk into most of what we call Emergency clinics here will leave a sour taste in one’s mouth. Not many of them are well-equipped, clean and spacious. For many, the stench is enough to kill a semi comatose patience.

Just as tempers were boiling over an Amnesty International report that detailed the atrocious extrajudicial execution of hundreds of peaceful IPOB/pro-Biafra protesters by the Nigerian army, another bad news filtered in: this time it was the launch of “Operation Python Dance” in the Southeast by the same notorious army. In an unimpressive press release by Colonel Sagir Musa,  deputy director Army public relations, he indicated the operation was planned to last from 27thNovember to 27th December; in a bid to  curtail  crime, Herdsmen-farmers clashes, communal clashes and what he termed “violent secessionist attacks” ostensibly in reference to IPOB.

Seven months after the 2016 budget was passed by the National Assembly – after much acrimony over padding and after what passed for debates – President Muhammadu Buhari has just presented the budget for 2017. Nobody knows what has been expended from the N6trillion budgeted for 2016. Across Nigeria are tales of anguish as the nation grapples with a deadly recession.

With the level of in-fighting amongst President Buhari’s corruption czars, it is very unlikely that corruption would be given an uppercut, not to speak of defeating it.

There are very few moments in a nation’s history that can equate the infamy that took place at the Nigerian Senate on Thursday, December 15, 2016. Of course, this is Nigeria, where infamous acts by those who have purloined our country are an everyday occurrence.

There are many reasons you will never find me in politics — either by election or appointment. The one that is relevant to our discussion today is “groupthink”. Have you ever wondered why people are so reasonable and principled… until they join government? And then a few weeks later they are telling you: “Things are not as simple as you people outside think. Forget all these things you are writing.” Their ideals begin to disappear. The philosophers begin to distance themselves from their philosophies. The moment they enter the State House, they have crossed over to another world. They now belong to a new group where everybody unconsciously thinks alike.

I do not know if it’s just me, but it does seem like the world is not paying so much attention to the current administration’s triumphalism over its predecessor and the reign of sleaze alleged to have been its pastime.

The Buhari regime forbade the discussion, in any form, any reference to, discussion of, indeed any hint regarding this nation’s return to civilian rule. This went beyond armed robbery of a nation of its most precious asset—its voice—it even attempted an appropriation of its dreams. Yes, if it had been possible, if Buhari and his sidekick had the means to enforce it, they would have forbidden a hundred million people to dream of democracy or civil determination of the future in any shape. So here we are yet again confronted with another Nigerian wonda, the unconscionable breed that makes bold to feast on a banquet which it has trampled…there are many yardsticks by which to judge the worthiness of any

I love this country with every fibre of my being. For three generations before me, my forefathers,  including my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my father, have made solid and notable contributions to the development of this country in both the private and public sectors.

As the Americans would say the last presidential election in Ghana provided another teachable moment for politics in Nigeria. By the way, some Nigerian politicians find it rather infra dig comparing political development in Ghana with that of Nigeria. The other day, a political leader with an impeccable progressive pedigree told this reporter in a private chat that given its size Ghana does not face 10% of the challenges Nigeria is confronting in socio-economic and political terms. So it would be most inappropriate to draw a parallel between the two West

I know war strategies are close-to-chest cards for generals. No general likes to reveal his next moves against an enemy. It will be strategic folly to do so and I’m honest enough to admit that. But the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, will be making a wrong choice in withdrawing troops from the Northeast in 2017.

There’s no need asking why Gambian President Yahya Jammeh changed his mind and minced his words.  After 22 years in power, Jammeh has learnt that mincing his words make them easier to swallow.

I watched a video clip of the serially shamed Justice Okon Abang-imposed candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim on YouTube and WhatsAPP, exultantly confessing his spiteful and treacherous conduct that ultimately did his party in, in the just concluded Ondo State governorship election. While some of us were not particularly surprised by the revelations in his voluntary confession since there was always that air of suspicion about his intention, and the motivation behind his claim to be the standard-bearer of the PDP, having emerged as so in a phoney primary in Ibadan, I was taken aback by his bare-faced audacity, chest-thumping and open confession of treachery against his own party.

SCENE ONE: In the course of a break-in at a local branch of the Central Bank (not in Nigeria), one of the robbers, holding a pump action gun in his hands, shouted to everyone: “Don’t move, if you don’t want to die. The money in this bank belongs to the government while your life belongs to you.”

Presently, for those politicians who intend to preserve their wealth, the naira is not a currency that they might want to leave their money in. The naira is, in one word, ‘‘unstable’’. The dollar is currently their only option.

It is important to approach the recent presentation of the budget to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari from both a process and a content perspective. It is only by so doing that one can begin to unravel the intricacies of the entire range of issues involved and their interconnectedness.            

On November 8, 2016 Americans elected Donald Trump as their 45th president. By the time you’re reading this, Mr. Trump would have named all his nominees for leadership of various government departments. The president-elect, who will be inaugurated on January 20, 2017, has not only unveiled the lineup of his cabinet, he has also specified each nominee’s portfolio. In addition, since his improbable election, Mr. Trump has laid out some of his top policy priorities.

Lagos — There is unease among domestic airlines in Nigeria following threat by Lloyd's of London, the world's leading insurance market, to blacklist them over irregular payment of premiums.

The relationship between local governments and state governors, and the fuzzy rules governing the administration of local councils have been at the centre of public conversation for quite some time. Last week, the topic received priority attention when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said emphatically that morally decadent state governors have enfeebled, abused, and turned local governments into cash cows for personal reasons.

The most muted fact about Nigeria today is that it is the site of one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. A United Nations report published this year revealed that there as many human beings starving to death daily in Nigeria as in war-torn South Sudan. Thousands of Nigerians have already died from hunger and hundreds of thousands more are close to that same grotesque fate.

Nigeria wastes everything it touches. Wastage is an ideological, political, governmental and existential philosophy in our country.

To say that the proliferation of internal military operations in Nigeria should be a source of serious concern to all of us is actually an understatement. Is it not mind-blowing that at the last count, Nigeria, a country that is not under attack from outside, has over 14 full-scale military operations all geared towards internal security – maintaining law and order, peace and security?

If you think or you have ever thought that APC would be the harbinger of the desired change in Nigeria, you definitely need a rethink. Thereafter, if you still believe such, it is best you go to bed, sleep, and activate dream mode! There is little difference between APC and PDP! Trying to decipher the difference between the two is akin to trying to find the distinction between six and half a dozen! Nomenclature is proving to be the main differing factor.

Governance and government can be used interchangeably. Government can be defined as a collective body of elected and appointed institutions empowered to legislate and adjudicate for the good of society while governance is conceptualized as the processes and systems by which a government manages the resources of a society to address socio-economic and political challenges in the polity. In Ondo State, what people have witnessed so far for almost 8 years during the administration of Governor Olusegun Mimiko is the negative aspect of good governance, which has put the state into comatose. For the people who may not know how God is so wonderful to Ondo, the state is blessed with abundant natural resources ranging from favourable climatic conditions for crop production to huge mineral deposits, rich forest resources with the longest coastal line of over 180km in Nigeria. The economy of Ondo State is also the sixth largest in Nigeria and is dominated by oil and crop production.