SAM OHUABUNWA'S PARADIGM

  Last Year, President Muhammadu Buhari( PMB)launched the new National Orientation campaign called: Change Begins with me. In his address at the launch, PMB said " We must resist the temptation to fall on the same partisanship, pettiness and immaturity that have poisoned our Country for so long"   I am one of those who have consistently called for a national reorientation that will bring real change to how we conduct ourselves and present ourselves to the outside World  and particularly to  broaden and deepen the fight against corruption. I had fully agreed with former UK Prime Minister David Cameron that Nigeria was "fantastically corrupt" and opined that merely focusing on the alleged corrupt election funding of the former ruling party was only scratching the surface. So I congratulated PMB for launching this campaign. One year down the line and with all issues that have arisen since the launch especially the latest-Mainagate, I am wondering if we are tru...

  Last week, we received the hearty news that Nigeria's position on the Global ease of doing business index improved significantly. In the 2017 rankings released by the World Bank, Nigeria moved from the 169th position to the 145th Position, thus gaining 24 positions. This is a great feat that deserves commendation to all, put particularly we commend the recent efforts of the Presidential Ease of doing Business Council chaired by the Vice President.   After achieving a peak of 120th position out of 181Countries surveyed in 2008, Nigeria remained on a roller-coaster since then, hitting the rocks at the 170th position in 2014. Worried by this depressing descent, the Federal government set up the Ease of Doing Business Council last year, which went to work to determine first, an action plan to address specific areas of business difficulties in Nigeria. This Committee which includes the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Minister of Finance and 8 other Ministers al...

  It is a pity that two and half years into PMB's 4-year term we have to bring this phase of PMB's anti-corruption agenda to an end. This has become very necessary to save PMB and all those who wish Nigeria well from continued embarrassment. With the high drama of Maina's reinstatement into the Civil service, it is reasonable to conclude that we are not making much headway with fighting real corruption in Nigeria.   Maina was accused of embezzling or stealing billions of Pension funds which he was called to manage. EFCC investigated him and found that he had a case to answer. The Federal Government that he was working for, after investigating him, dismissed him from the civil service. The National Assembly invited him, he refused to show up. The EFCC invited him, he failed to show up but ran away to a foreign country to evade justice. Thereafter EFFC declared him wanted and he became a fugitive.    Then PMB came to power on the steam of an ANTICORRU...

   That the militant Fulani herdsmen have become the greatest security challenge of this Nation must be obvious to all who wish this nation well. In fact many objective watchers have declared that the raids by the nomadic Fulani herdsmen is the biggest security threat facing Nigeria after Boko Haram. Indeed in 2016, more people died in clashes with militant herdsmen than Boko haram attacks .And yet our political leaders are handling the problem with kid gloves.   True the Fulani herdsmen and Farmers clash did not start today. It has been long but was limited to parts of the North East and North Central states. Indeed between 1996 and 2006 (Ten full years) only about 121 farmers were killed by the Fulani herdsmen, largely in Bauchi, Plateau and Gombe States. But since late 2014 and early 2015 and ever since, the intensity and regularity of the attacks have maintained a steady crescendo engulfing most of the central and southern regions of Nigeria. According to the g...

  Last week I was thrilled to read that PMB threw a very interesting question to State governors who were owing arrears of salaries: How do you sleep when your workers are unpaid and hungry? In some States in Nigeria, we hear that workers are still being owed up to 6 months and pensioners up to 9 months, and that is after the federal government's bail out packages and the recent Paris Club debt reimbursements.   For some of us things begin to get difficult just after two weeks of our last month's pay, and if the next pay day is delayed for any reason whatsoever, we become anxious and dysfunctional. I cannot contemplate how we can survive with two months of salary arrears and yet we hear that some 'poor' civil servants can still transport themselves to work even when salaries have not been paid for six months or more. How? Is it from previous savings, iou, book me down, support from family and friends or from egunje? We need to hear from them please.  The question...

  I am drawn to believe that many Nigerians have seen some improvement in electricity supply in the last few months. I just hope that this assumption is indeed true. In Lagos where I live, I have noticed an usual availability of electric power, so much so that for some weeks, we have not been using much of the generator. Yes, often the supply is disrupted, but before you can start the generator, the power is restored. Every once in a while there is a collapse of the system but it quickly comes back to life. In my family home in faraway Arochukwu, in Abia State, I have also been surprised by some improvement in electricity supply in recent times. In fact, the change has been most dramatic in Arochukwu. For years, I had never arrived home to find the lights on. We would have to start the generator to have light to get into the house and most times, we could spend a whole week without electricity from the mains. Indeed, we had come to the conclusion that "NEPA" people inten...

  In present day Nigeria, life has become brutish and short. No day passes without the terrorist group- Boko Haram murdering innocent Nigerians in market places, worship centres and even in educational institutions. That is after they have been firstly, technically degraded and then flushed out of the Sambisa Forest with the recovery of shekau's Koran! There is a daily decimation of the People of the North East Nigeria, especially the people of Borno State. Though, Government understates the casualty figures for obvious reasons, other sources indicate frightening casualty figures including military, Civilian JTF and just plain and ordinary citizens of a country that is proving apparently incapable of protecting the lives of its citizens.   Elsewhere in the Country, armed robbers and kidnappers are running a mock. They have taken over many highways, especially at the damaged portions, which are too many on almost all the roads in the Country-Federal and State. While ...

   Since the Break out of the Nigeria-Biafra war in 1967, one theme has remained recurrent- Unity of Nigeria. General Yakubu Gowon harped on the theme: "To Keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done".In the long expected speech from the President last week after his long medical vacation, the central theme of his very short address was: "Nigeria's unity has been settled and all the trouble makers who are threatening the unity must be summarily dealt with".   Gowon was the Head of State when the war broke out. I am not sure if he has written his memoirs because it will be nice to know if he showed any humility  by admitting that some of his actions contributed to the disunity of the Country and the subsequent civil war. Perhaps one may be charitable to assume that he did not deliberately take those decisions with the aim of precipitating the war. But after a cold and unbiased review of some of his actions, he must have realized that those actions helped to...

   The hall mark of democracy is free speech and free association. Implicit in this,is the freedom of dissent or the right to protest against anything that the government has done or did not do as long as such protests are held in line with lawful conduct. When a government becomes intolerant of lawful protests or criticisms by citizens of the Country, that gives a dangerous signal. And it will not be morally right for men of goodwill to keep quiet when our democratic freedoms are being trampled upon.   Some Nigerian citizens who were frustrated that our President had been out of the Country for over about 100 days on his second medical vacation this year, decided to express their frustration by holding some protest rally, first at the Unity centre in Abuja. Operating under the "Our Mumu done do" coalition, the protesters who were generally few in number gathered at Unity Centre, singing and requesting the President to 'resume or resign'. The first sign that our ...

  I have heard the Acting President say on at least two occasions that those who are complaining of marginalization in Nigeria are actually only saying "please appoint me". The first time I heard him say so, I was taken aback and was not quite sure what to make of it. But when I heard him say so again last week, I became really bothered.   Was the Acting President saying that the cry of marginalization by some ethnic groups or sections in Nigeria is a hoax?  Was he actually saying that there is no genuine case of marginalization in Nigeria and all those complaining about it were only making noise, seeking undue attention or just looking for opportunities for themselves? Or was he saying that indeed there are genuine cases of marginalization in Nigeria but those who are leading the cries are not truly interested in the holistic resolution of the matter but just interested in getting something for themselves? In which case, the moment they get 'settled' perhaps b...