SAM OHUABUNWA'S PARADIGM

  I have always held the view that it is the economy that will force us to rational Behaviour. We can fool around as much as we can, argue as much as we can with all kinds of biased, ethnic, religious or primordial considerations but when the economic reality dawns on us, we either decide to take the right decisions or we are forced to sink.  For many years I have stood against State creation. I have argued that State creation destabilizes the Federation, making the centre much more stronger and more domineering. I have argued that every new State comes with its admistrative paraphernalia that consumes the income that should be devoted to development. I have argued that most of the existing states are unviable and many are insolvent and there was no economic justification to create more. I had argued that States in Nigeria were not created for altruistic reasons. They were created primarily to weaken Eastern Nigeria and subsequently Biafra in 1967. They succeeded in that miss...

   On the 29th of May( about 3weeks now), I arrived Miami, Florida in the United States of America to attend my son's graduation from the Ross University School of Medicine( RUSM). The first thing I did was to link up with Nigeria on the Internet and on phone. I was eager to hear President Buhari's inaugural speech. I was impressed with its brevity and memorable literary lacings. The quote from Shakespeare on the import of seizing the moment was heart stirring and the catcher" I belong to everybody and I belong to Nobody" was poignant, brilliant and pregnant.   When he finished speaking, I swallowed hard and lingered around as if waiting for more. Somehow, rightly or wrongly, I had expected more from that Speech. It was a speech and a day many Nigerians had  waited for with high expectations. In the weeks preceding the handover, if you complained about anything, especially matters related to governance or the economy, you were told to wait till the 29th of May....

  INTRODUCTION I am grateful to the leadership of the Public Administration and Management Development Institute( PAMDI) for the kind invitation to speak at this year's conference. These are 'political times' in our Nation and the subject for my intervention is germane. Nigerians must remain thankful to God for a long time to come for the peaceful elections and the smooth transfer of power from Dr Goodluck Jonathan to Muhammadu Buhari, from PDP to APC. It is a unique development in our Nation and perhaps signals that may be at long last our Democracy is maturing .  PRIMORDIAL ISSUES  In matured Societies as you see in Europe and else where and to a great extent in the United States of America, people are evaluated for their fit for a particular Job or position based largely on identifiable and measurable criteria. They look at your education, experience, skills and other such issues in making a choice. They hardly will be interested in who your father was or were he c...

 Your Excellency, as I conclude this three -part memo as my humble contribution to support your historic assumption of office after a record lengthy struggle, permit me to give my thoughts on some of the very critical issues on which you have promised the Nation significant, if not revolutionary change. I have chosen to write on them last because, in my candid opinion, these are the areas you need the best advice and the greatest help. This is so,because when all is said and done, these are the sentiments on which you won the election and it is on  these your success will be measured:  FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION Nigerians can and do disagree on many issues. But when it comes to corruption, ALL Nigerians agree that the level of corruption in Nigeria is very high. When the Transparency International places us year after year at the bottom quarter of the Corruption Perception Index(CPI), they are only reflecting what we Nigerians and our friends say about ourselves. They do...

 Your Excellency, I am praying that as you have finally assumed office as the 4th Democratically elected President in this 4th Republic, that you will do well, much better than the already very high expectations. That's why I made the three simple recommendations to you last week that you choose the best lieutenants to support the implementation of your vision for Nigeria. After you have determined what you want to achieve for Nigeria or where you want to take Nigeria to in your four years, I believe that you know that your next most critical assignment is to find the men and women to whom you will commit the implementation of your vision. This is always the most critical function of a Chief Executive Officer( CEO), which you have become as the CEO of the enterprise called Nigeria Inc. If you get this wrong, sir, you may have to carry more burden than is necessary and your vision may be under achieved. I know that you came to power on the platform of a political party and you will...