Trendy tolerance

Also published in Daily Trust

Though so much has been said and written on the supposedly Islamic religious insurgency in northern Nigeria, the crisis as a subject of research has not got its appropriate share of exhaustive and objective intellectual treatment, which is quite necessary in order to come up with a comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon and offer practical proposals to restore and sustain peace in the region. Most of the circulating analyses about the dynamics of the insurgency and the solution proposals lack intellectual depth and logical objectivity required to thoroughly understand the phenomenon, put it in the right context and offer appropriate solution proposals accordingly.

The endless e-passport stress

Also published in Daily Trust 

Though this piece may hardly if at all interest my home based compatriots especially who have never had to stay outside Nigeria for an extended period of time, because for obvious reasons they may not appreciate the significance and indeed the value of having a valid passport the way their foreign based compatriots do. After all, an expatriate’s valid passport remains the most indispensible official document he needs all the time regardless of the endeavour he pursues aboard especially in efficiently functioning countries.

I therefore intend to highlight the seemingly endless dilemma to which many foreign based Nigerians are unnecessarily subjected, by The Nigeria Immigration Service due to its inability to provide the electronic passport issuing facilities in most of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions around the world.

Politics of Amnesty

Also published in Daily Trust 

                               President Jonathan and Sultan of Sokoto

 

The recent controversy generated by the Sultan’s call on President Jonathan to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members, and Mr. President’s subsequent refusal has further highlighted the absence of a common ground to work towards find a lasting solution to this increasingly overwhelming security crisis. Unfortunately also, most of the arguments and counter arguments given by most of the commentators on this issue are devoid of objectivity hence the obvious reflection of their ethno-religious and regional inclinations on their respective commentaries.

Don’t merge to submerge

Also published in Daily Trust 

The growing expectation in the emerging merger of some major opposition parties to transform into one robust opposition party strong enough to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Aso Rock villa in 2015 presidential election reminds me of the euphoria and the high public expectation that greeted the formation of the PDP itself in 1998, and its predictable win in the subsequent presidential election in 1999. This is because there are some similarities between the socio-economic and political circumstances prevailing towards the end of the protracted military rule especially towards the sudden death of the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, and the potentially tense political atmosphere currently building up in the country due to the growing desperation for power among the country’s political elite.

At the Mercy of Drones and Turbans

Also published in Daily Trust

The rate at which the security situation is deteriorating across the Sahel and West African sub regions is quite frightening, as it also steadily but continuously attracts more state and non-state actors from the region and beyond, with conflicting interests, who pursue their interests and also seek to settle their scores at all cost.

For instance, the recent establishment of the deadly drones base in the neighboring Republic of Niger by the United States of America, to supposedly track down and kill terrorists operating in the region, the growing emergence of more armed gangs out there, some of which are equally deadly or even deadlier than Boko Haram and also the proliferation of other similarly organized armed groups that take advantage of the notoriety of Boko Haram to kill and cause mayhem in the name of Boko Haram, represent an alarming escalation of the level of involvement of foreign intelligence agencies and other state and non-state actors, who increasingly engage in covert activities in the region to exploit the crisis in their struggle against one another. Needless to say, they further aggravate the security situation in Nigeria and turn its terrain into proxy war battle ground where illegal arms trade flourishes also.