The external dynamics of Zaria incident (ll)

Also published in Daily Trust  

Notwithstanding the justifiability or otherwise of the amount of force used by the military during their recent showdown with the Shiites in Zaria or indeed during any similar incident in the past, it’s obvious that the recent incident has provoked Iran’s anger, which has ever since then continued to manifest itself in the form of blackmail, campaign of calumny and threat against the Nigerian government.

Though the federal government might have downplayed the implication of Iran’s reaction in the aftermath of the incident, the reality is that, its reaction represents the beginning of its overt mischievous activities against Nigeria. This raises worries about Nigeria’s ability to cope with the associated security challenges and avert their destabilizing effects, in view of its obvious inexperience in the sophisticated modus operandi of Iran’s clandestine operations against any country that refuses to tolerate the disruptive and subversive practices of the Shiites among its citizens.

The external dynamics of Zaria incident (l)

Also published in Daily Trust

As the heated controversy triggered by the sharply conflicting narratives about last weekend’s violent confrontation in Zaria between the Nigerian military personnel and members of the Shi’a movement persists, many Nigerians express surprise at Iran’s particular interest in that particular incident considering the fact that the incident was neither the first nor even the worst of its kind in the country.

Notwithstanding the credibility or otherwise of any particular narrative about the cause of the incident and how it played out, which in any case isn’t my topic today, it’s obvious that Iran’s interest in it is simply too disproportionate to have been solely motivated by humanitarian concerns, after all. Besides, Iran’s attitude towards Nigeria in this regard and the language it uses smack of sheer arrogance and disdain for Nigeria’s sovereignty and indeed raise questions about its motive and motivation.

Coping with looming post-oil age (ll)

Also published in Daily Trust

Obviously, the increasingly unbearable economic hardship resulting from the foregoing, and the gloomy economic outlook it paints makes President Buhari’s mission particularly challenging, especially in view of Nigerians’ understandably high expectations of his administration to turn things around and put the country on a path to sustainable economic recovery.

This explains why though he maintains his readiness and ability to deliver, he nonetheless sometimes betrays worries knowing that the country is currently too broke, or rather, it has been rendered too broke to afford the ambitious economic infrastructure projects he needs to provide simultaneously with radical anti-corruption measures and sustainable economic transformation policies. The enormity of the challenges cannot be overestimated considering the fact that, and as I indicated last week, the proceeds from crude oil sales on which Nigerian economy relies are simply too inadequate to finance infrastructure projects of such magnitude.