Corridors of power: The graveyard of conscience

…also published in Daily Trust 

Though conscience is inherent in man, ability to behave accordingly obviously differs from one man to another.  Also, though everyone can pretend to be a person of conscience, only time and circumstances will tell a real man of conscience from a charlatan. Besides, the fact that no one today can rightly claim the ability to maintain a perfect commitment to his conscience all the time, explains individuals’ points of strength and weakness in this regard.

With its complicated socio-economic and political challenges, Nigeria’s public sphere has always featured many supposedly principled public affairs analysts and critics analyzing the causes of its various challenges, proffering solutions and advocating good governance and accountability.

Nigeria’s compromised sovereignty

…also published in Daily Trust

Though one isn’t so naive as to assume that Nigeria’s sovereignty is uncompromisable, yet the obvious tendency of a typical Nigerian holding a position of authority to unnecessarily concede it is particularly disappointing.

As one of the basic elements of civilized statehood, sovereignty symbolizes the dignity of a country and represents its source of inspiration in its quest for political stability and socio-economic development befitting its potential. It also symbolizes the motivation that inspires particularly ambitious countries in their struggle for regional, continental and global politico-economic influence. After all, it’s a country’s level of success accordingly that determines the amount of respect it and its citizens attract on the global stage. This of course explains the obsession of many countries with the issue of sovereignty, and indeed the sheer seriousness that characterizes their reactions whenever they rightly or wrongly feel that their sovereignty is challenged or compromised.