Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Jonathan, Babangida and the Sword of Damocles
In the Sword of Damocles, the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero tells the story of Dionysius II, a king who r.... By Jideofor Adibe
Wednesday,Jun 23,2010
Attahiru Jega and the Search for a Nigerian Hero
Nigerians seem to be in constant search for public heroes - competent little messiahs who will not hesitate to put .... By Jideofor Adibe
Thursday,Jun 17,2010
The Return of Mallam Ribadu
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the one time strongman of the financial crime buster EFCC, who sneaked out of Nigeria into self.... By Jideofor Adibe
Thursday,Jun 17,2010
Too Many Captains…
Two major attributes that have been quite easy to discern about President Goodluck Jonathan are: one, he seems to l.... By Ijeoma Nwogwugwu
Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Should Suspects Be Paraded?
The above question is generating increasing furore among our intellectuals, and ‘beer parlour’ politica.... By Jideofor Adibe
Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Nigeria: A Two Party System By Legislation?
Perhaps enamoured by the seeming ease with which two dominant political parties trod the political landscape of, at.... By Joel Nwokeoma
In the aftermath of the recent Christmas Day 2009 attempted terrorist attack by Nigerian born Umar Abdulmutallab over Detroit, Michigan in the United States of America, one key feature of Nigeria’s now famed confusion in international diplomacy has again come to the fore: fire-fighting. In an outburst of outrage and nationalistic indignation similar to an earlier incident in 2005 when a US intelligence report on sub-Saharan Africa branded Nigeria a failing State, with dire consequences for the sub-region, Nigeria is at it again over this recent incident, with the combined condemnation of the listing of Nigeria among countries on the US watch list as a ‘country of interest’ on terrorism by both arms of the National Assembly. Perhaps due to the long absence of the President from Nigeria on grounds of ill-health, leading to an avoidable vacuum at that level of governance, the current umbrage could not attract a Presidential condemnation, similar to that issued by former President Olusegun Obasanjo when the US intelligence report was made public. After all the hue and cry over the report, it turned out that all the empty threats of diplomatic rows and the strong request made at the highest possible level for the US to withdraw the acclaimed offensive report came to nothing, as the US did no such thing, the report remains on the books, and the entire umbrage turned out to be, yet again, hot air from a country which claims to be ‘the giant of Africa’. In fact, at the end of all the uninformed noise over the matter, it turned out that the allegedly offensive report was balanced and fair, and that Nigerian leaders, if they were thinking correctly for once, would have used the report to the country’s advantage by ensuring that the scenarios painted in the said report did not come to pass, through improved governance. But of course, that was not to be.
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