Disempowering The NDLEA: Insider’s View The 2019 elections have come and gone. It has produced its victors and losers, no matter how illegitimate the ballot was. We did not even discuss several issues that plague Nigeria severely in the campaign season. Dividends of democracy? What we discussed was patrimonial-manias in…
Tag: democracy
Pirate-Captain Entities and Democracy
Pirate-Captain Entities and Democracy There is a keen fascination among young men, most at leading schools and universities around the world, with the “captain-pirate” mode. Its germ is of rebellion or disobedience against the injustices and excesses of the status quo in society. It is not surprising. The literal meaning…
Nigeria Needs Strong Social Movements
Nigeria Needs Strong Social Movements Voting, votes and honest election results are not enough to prevent elected officials from misbehaving or misgoverning once they get into office. Constitutional checks and balances are not usually sufficient to check and balance the activities of those in power abuses of power as malfeasance,…
Nigeria Decivilising
Nigeria Decivilising The complete metamorphosis of the butterfly is a thoroughly adequate analogy for civilisation: the gradual progression from egg to slug to pupa to imago [the beautiful butterfly]. In the Nigerian context, it starts with the colonised state to the inexperienced independent nation-state to transitional nation-state to strong state….
Trapped by the Guilty Accuser Syndrome
Nations Trapped by the Guilty Accuser Syndrome Numerous factors are acutely responsible for the persistence and worsening of the phenomenon of corruption in many democracies. These factors include regulatory capture, lack of transparency, inappropriate political systems, vertical policy transplantations, the weak rule of law, harsh economic conditions, the absence of…
How Democracy Fails Nigeria
How Democracy Fails Nigeria There has been too much optimism in what Nigerians widely tout as the ‘dividends of democracy’, i.e. the benign and enabling outcomes of democracy. After 18 years of a return to democracy in Nigeria, the dividends of democracy on offer have only meant the military is…
Reflections on the May Elections
Reflections on the May Elections: The Relevance of Voters? Never underestimate the wisdom of the old saying, “what Britain needs is another good war”. Peace, jobs, wages, NHS are boring and appear to be responsible for the national malaise in British politics. Or are they? The May 5th local elections…
Fraternities are Viruses in Nigeria: 10 – Poor Imitators
Fraternities are Viruses in Nigeria: Part 10 – Poor Imitators University campus grown fraternities (UCGF) have done either good or evil to the societies in their countries of origin (e.g. the USA) is debatable. In the American-formation, with no idealisation intended, their “honour codes” are both formidable and adhered to….
Show Us a Frivolous Corruption Petition!
Show Us a Frivolous Corruption Petition! In the arena of corruption, especially at the grand level where billions of dollars are stolen as a rule of thumb, secrecy and cover-ups are two of the most dominant factors. Many of the world’s great scandals relating to corruption are found out by…