#FromTheDarkRoom : The Note of Light - J.J Omojuwa

 

He died yesterday! He said to me, you are going too fast, you are doing too much, and you are scaring everyone… he died yesterday!

Nigeria has suffered enough - Chude Jideonwo

This morning, my team member, Oluwatobi Soyombo and I sat in the office, and discharged our final responsibility to the Buhari Campaign Organisation – we changed the bio of the Muhammadu Buhari account across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and everywhere else to 

 

‘President of Nigeria’. 

I asked Tobi for the privilege to do this myself, with my own hands.
Then, as he looked at me, shocked, the tears began to follow.

Tolu Ogunlesi: Where I now stand on the fuel subsidy removal debate

By Tolu Ogunlesi

I was a fervent believer and participant in the Occupy Nigeria protests of January 2012. The issue I had with the removal was less with the subsidy itself than with a number of important issues surrounding it, which I shall outline in the paragraphs below.

Let the action begin, President Buhari

By Dele Momodu

Your Excellency, please permit me to start by congratulating you on your swearing-in as Nigeria’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Sir, it has been a very long and arduous journey back to the State House; such an epic battle, to say the least. Yours is an eloquent confirmation of the dictum that it is never over until it is over. There is a lesson for all to learn in your uncommon determination, extraordinary tenacity, great perseverance and tremendous patience and equanimity. According to William Shakespeare “all is well that ends well.”

Why change in Nigeria matters to the rest of the world

By Madeleine Albright and Johnnie Carson

This week, something unprecedented is happening in Africa’s most populous country, where groundbreaking political change is underway. Nigeria’s incumbent president will step down and a new president from another political party, Muhammadu Buhari, will be sworn in.

The March election that brought Mr. Buhari to office was a political triumph for Nigeria and a positive step for the future of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. Few expected that the election would be peaceful or credible, but the Nigerian people demanded nothing less.

Thank you and farewell Dr. Jonathan

By Enenim Ubon

“I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose”

– Epictetus

The above quotation is a summary of the life of Dr Jonathan. A man who in 16 years of Nigeria’s (return to) democracy has risen from deputy governor to president; a position many Nigerians would give ANYTHING to attain. As the saying goes “who God has blessed, no man can curse”, Dr Jonathan is a man ordained from birth for great exploits. From the back waters of a polluted Ijaw community, ‘Jona’ has become a global citizen.

Fellow Nigerians, by this time next week

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, let’s leave politics alone today and discuss personal issues. I’m very happy to tell you some positive development in my life. I was brought up by parents who taught me that atelowo eni kii tan nii je (all you can be sure of is the reward from your personal hard work). I’ve since imbibed that dictum like a sacrament. And it has never failed me.

Buhari: To probe or not to probe?

By Simon Kolawole

I admire Gen. Muhammadu Buhari but, I’m sorry, I don’t envy him. Expectations are just too high. Nigerians have suffered too much all their lives: they are therefore entitled to lofty expectations from a new president. Refineries must work now. Hospitals must be top-quality now. The schools must be excellent now. Roads must be tarred now. Electricity must be uninterrupted now. As I have argued over the years, no one president is going to change or transform Nigeria in four or eight years. It took time to destroy Nigeria and it will take time to rebuild it. The most important thing is to be sure we are making steady progress and travelling in the right direction.

PDP must earn right to criticise Buhari

By Festus Eriye

I overheard a conversation between two men on a street that captures the magnitude of the burden inherited by President-elect Muhammadu Buhari. It went something like this:

Mr. A: “Why e come be say now wey your man (Buhari) don win naim we dey suffer dis kain thing? No light, no petrol, no money… Na so una dey shout change, change … him don win now see wahala!”

Mr. B: Haba! But Jonathan is still in charge, Buhari never take over now!”

Mr. A: “Look … we no go gree o!” And their voices tapered off in the distance.

NNPC, Buhari and the missing trillions

By Olusegun Adeniyi

An old man was walking through a village when he saw several children gathered around a man of about his own age who was being rough-handled by them. The old man enquired from the children what the matter was and they explained that the man was caught stealing a chicken which he put in his pouch. They added that if the pouch was searched, their allegation would be proved.

The old man moved closer to the alleged chicken thief and asked for his defence. The man looked straight at the intercessor and said, “Please, I want you to use the eyes that old men use to look at things to examine my pouch. If you do that, I am sure you will find out that there is no chicken inside it and that these children don’t know what they are talking about.”

Buruji Kashamu: Buhari’s first litmus test

By Adekoya Boladale

From the breezing climate of the East to the ancient brown roofs of Ibadan, the rocky lands of Abeokuta up to the desert plains of the Nigerian savanah, the message of change rumbled through households, ransacked villages and huts. Some say it is a message of hope, some believe it is an oath for development while to others it is simply the struggle for a new beginning.

No matter how you caption it, the General Buhari’s twelve years aspiration to retake the presidential seat was one laid down on various promises against a perceived failed government. But amidst the promises of free lunch in schools, drastic reduction in prices of petroleum products, constant electricity, stipends to unemployed youths among numerous others, one which the whole world and indeed truly progressive Nigerians will focus on more is his overemphasized war on corruption.

A government of the people - Tolu Ogunlesi

Last Monday, I was briefly “detained” by a group of Air Force officers manning a checkpoint at the International Airport in Lagos. I was in a “Lagos Metro” taxi, approaching the ramp that leads to the airport’s departure level, when we encountered the checkpoint. The men ordered the car to park and then proceeded to announce, in that uncouth fashion we have come to associate with men in uniform in these parts, that taxis were prohibited from going beyond that point. I would have to alight and walk the rest of the way.

How to deepen our democracy beyond the 2015 elections - By Waziri Adio

The last 16 years have been very good for the democratic project in Nigeria. We have broken at least four records.

Buhari’s victory: Lest we forget the heroes

By Dele Momodu

“Once you start thinking about financial security, you’re beginning to run the risk of eroding your true self… Once you start thinking about money… I’m not sure you’re going to be able to take the risks you need to take. You want to stay clear of that; let that part, hopefully, take care of itself.”
– Robert Redford

South Africa: Terrorism Thinly Disguised As A Phobia By Nengak Daniel Gondyi

I have visited South Africa twice and had the opportunity of meeting many remarkable people; but I should tell you that I did not particularly feel loved in South Africa. Personally, gauging the reaction of the other to my being is something I look out for and I have had interesting reactions in the places I have visited.

EKO HOSPITAL, A BUILDING OF DEATHS? (Very Sad Experience)

EKO HOSPITAL, A BUILDING OF DEATHS? (Very Sad Experience)

"This piece is a hard one for me to write, hard and very difficult. As I write this, I am filled with deep sorrow for what could have been that was not. This piece is not intended to do anything but to warn unsuspecting members of the public. A warning that is necessary at this time because “evil deeds thrive when good men do nothing”

Rivers’ abracadabra and INEC’s deafening silence

By Uche Igwe

That the results of the presidential election were allegedly manipulated in Rivers State was not completely a surprise to many. What were surprising was the clinical scale of the act and the stupendous audacity of its perpetrators. I was there and saw things for myself. It happened as though it was a well-planned, well-funded and rehearsed endeavour. I wonder why other political parties like the All Progressives Congress did not see them coming.

Letter to Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo, By Tolu Ogunlesi

President Buhari should under no circumstances allow himself to be cast as a Fulani President, or a President of northerners or Muslims. Vice President Osinbajo should never succumb to the temptation to see himself as a Vice President for Yoruba people, or the Redeemed Christian Church of God, or for Nigerian Christians. Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo sadly saw nothing wrong in using religion to divide the country; Jonathan taking delight in running from church to church, posing with Pastors and Bishops (he even managed to squeeze in a photo-splashed pilgrimage to Jerusalem), while his party tried to portray Muhammadu Buhari and the APC as Islamists, Sharia apologists, ‘Janjaweed’ and even the political wing of Boko Haram. During the presidential campaign Vice President Sambo reversed the strategy, and did all he could to convince us he was the next in line to Prophet Mohammed, in the Islamic pecking order. (From him we learnt that ‘Namadi’ actually means ‘Na Madinah’, and that Osinbajo was on a mission to Christianise Nigeria).

Towards a Youth-Inclusive Government

 By Bella Anne C. Ndubuisi

 On March 28, Nigerians marched out to exercise their franchise in what is without a doubt the most significant elections in the history of Nigerian elections. Two elections were held on this day—Presidential and National Assembly elections—but the outcome of the Presidential elections will be most remembered by many for three important reasons.

At Last, Farewell to Poverty!

By Hafsat Abiola-Costello

Dear Nigerians,

Saturday is D-Day. It is a moment of joy that Nigeria has again been given an opportunity to stand on its feet. In this, I see clear evidence of God’s love for us. But we must now do our part. Let money not blind us to the task that is ours to do for the wealth that can be ours is far greater than any that our friends might offer us to induce our support for their candidate.