Category: Analysis & opinion

What Is The Meaning Of Independence

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By Sunny Awhefeada I must begin by confessing that the title of the present discourse is not my invention. It was what I thought was an innocent question from Isio, my eight years old daughter. The day was Monday, the eve of this year’s Independence Day anniversary and the time was morning just before seven o’clock. As has been the norm since 2008, I already had the key to the car in my hands waiting as my wife dressed Isio up for school so I could take her on school…

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Nigeria At 64: Do Not Write Off Our Country -Tobi Dafe

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Tobi Dafe, a Nigerian leading Socialprenuer and analyst has appealed to Nigeria citizens and foreign investors to collectively work towards the realization of a better country of their dreams. He made this appeal in an episode, dedicated to Nigerian as the nation marked her 64th independence.   He assured that if all hand are on deck, and a proper database is designed for accountability and patriotism, Nigeria will be a great nation. Tobi Dafe wrote: Happy Independence Day to our dear nation Nigeria. A lot has been said about Nigeria,…

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How Imported Religions Destabilise Africa

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By Zik Gbemre   Nigeria is majorly divided politically by two foreign religions of Christianity and Islam. Religions ought to bring peace but in the Nigerian situation, the two foreign religions have divided the country into two major factions. Both faiths no longer trust one another. Nobody talks about good governance. It is all religion. It is never about good governance. Africans and Nigerians have fallen into it deeply and it divides the unity, progress, and development of Nigeria, Africa at large. If one doesn’t belong to any of these…

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They Have Given Up On Us By Sunny Awhefeada

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By Sunny Awhefeada Elementary social studies taught us that the essence of government was the welfare and security of the people. Government is that entity to whom the people surrender their freedom in exchange for protection. Before Western political thought birthed social contract as a concept, Africans if not people everywhere, had lived in organized societies and their lives were regulated, functional and fulfilled. People everywhere had their lore and mores before the imperial intrusion. The presence of an African civilization thousands of years ago attests to the socio-economic cum…

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Atare Otite, Were You A Brief Candle?

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By Sunny Awhefeada The sudden death of Professor Atare Otite on Saturday 2nd August 2024 was shocking to all who knew him. A professor of political science, he was ebullient till the last moment and gave no inkling that he was about to breast the tape of life. He drove himself for a distance of about one hundred kilometers, made some stopovers and those who saw him said that he was his usual energetic self. He spoke with some persons, scheduling appointments for the weekend and cancelling others as he…

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DELTA AT 33 YEARS OF RETROGRESSION

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By Zik Gbemre   What are Deltan politicians celebrating for 33 years of creation of Delta state? Are the Deltan politicians celebrating bad leadership, poverty, hunger, unemployment, kidnappings, robberies, killings and youth violence? Delta state is retrogressing and not progressing. Delta state is not lucky with leaders because supposed elected governors are imposed on the people to loot as they like. Immediate past Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s made stupendous wealth feasting on the state’s commonwealth from clinging to political offices. Sheriff Oborevwori is now at the helms, amassing wealth from the…

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Analysis: The Unfortunate Major

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  By Sunny Awhefeada There is a video of the story of the execution of a brilliant army officer, Major Daniel Bamidele circulating right now. My wife drew my attention to it two days ago and I told her that I was familiar with the story. Many news magazines had written about it in the 1980s when the tragic incident took place. The 1980s was the decade when the genre of news magazine flourished in Nigeria. The magazines carried reports and stories which were well researched, deep and detailed. It…

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Interrogating Delta State’s Recycled Debt Narrative: A 20-Year Cycle of Mismanagement

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By Shedrack Onitsha,   Over the past 16 years, successive PDP-led administrations in Delta State have consistently cited the state’s debt profile as a reason for their inability to fulfill campaign promises, diverting attention from the poor governance and lack of tangible development. Each new government has adopted the narrative of “mountainous debt” inherited from their predecessors, a convenient excuse for the poor leadership that has plagued the state for over two decades.   When Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan succeeded Chief James Onanefe Ibori in 2007, having served in Ibori’s administration…

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An Olympian Shame! By Sunny Awhefeada

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By Sunny Awhefeada As literature students at the University of Benin, we played with words as we honed our poetic and oratorical skills. One of the many superlative words we deployed in those hungry, but starry eyed days was “Olympian” which in our context meant “exceptional” or “superhuman”. We deployed it to foreground traits that we found extraordinary, lofty and outstanding. So we had such turns of expression such as “Olympian height”, “Olympian achievement”, “Olympian attainment” to describe feats that awed our impressionable minds. As counter to such positive acclaims…

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The Coming of Day-By Sunny Awhefeada

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By Sunny Awhefeada,   The Ghanaian Yao Egblewogbe’s poem “The Coming of Day” speaks to the African predicament with a remarkable sense of irony. The imagery of day signifies hope and relief from the horrors of the night and colonialism was night in the configuration of the African experience. Those who led the anti-colonial struggle promised the people dawn and day. Egblewogbe’s country’s leading nationalist, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, told Africans to “seek ye first the political kingdom and every other thing will be added onto you”. In the course of…

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