Taming the terror

Also published in Daily Trust

The resumption of the escalating wave of Boko Haram terror attacks, which the group had apparently timed to coincide with the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari as President, was a calculated war strategy designed to challenge the President who, a day after his historic election victory, had resolutely declared that “Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will”.

Unlike in the past when Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau would contemptuously dismiss similar warnings by the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, Boko Haram must have taken President Buhari’s warning seriously, they consequently decided to audaciously intensify and sustain their terror attacks from the very day he assumed the presidency, in order to challenge his declared resolve to crush them, and, of course, to preempt the anticipated unrelenting military onslaught against them.

On Customs’ raid in Kano

Also published in Daily Trust

Considering the phenomenon of indiscriminate smuggling, the sheer volume and the monetary value of smuggled items flooding Nigerian markets, one shouldn’t be surprised at the alarming rates at which the country’s already struggling industries collapse, which discourages entrepreneurship, creates unemployment and consequently unleashes grinding poverty.

The surprising, or rather, the unfortunately ironic aspect of the situation is that, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which is supposed to prevent and tackle smuggling, has not only failed to deliver but many of its officials are actually involved in facilitating the smuggling of contraband items into the country.

The blatant involvement of the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), of course with the exception of a few honest and patriotic personnel, in facilitating systematic smuggling into the country undermines and will inevitably continue to frustrate the country’s efforts to build a competitive economy. Their occasional intensification of their purported efforts to curb smuggling is a mere ploy designed to further extort the smugglers and in the meantime show off their hypocritical commitment to fight the phenomenon.

The distraction Buhari can’t afford

Also published in Daily Trust

Though the recent political intrigues that culminated in the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively were indeed dramatic, the event must not be allowed to distract the promising, though, admittedly, so far rather slow, government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

After all, such post-election interparty political machinations and intraparty feuds are quite common even in developed democracies where elected politicians seek to outmaneuver one another in power tussle, while vested interests equally struggle for influence in the process of the formation of political power equations. Yet, governments out there don’t get unnecessarily distracted.

Buhari’s dilemma and its solution

Also published in Daily Trust

Though Nigerians can now rest assured that their new president, Muhammadu Buhari will never condone corruption, let alone engage in it, yet his ability to deliver depends, to a large extent, on the quality of his team of political appointees, which is gradually emerging. 

President Buhari’s dilemma lies in the process of identifying and appointing the calibre of people he necessarily needs around him, because it is the individual and collective performance of the people he appoints as ministers, advisers, heads of various government agencies etc that will eventually determine his success or failure as President.