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BOKO HARAM: THE IMAGERY Of A NAME - Samuel Onwordi

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Unfolding events are eliciting more negative impression over its name. I was at Yaba Motor Park waiting for a taxi to take me to Oyingbo when I heard the front tyre of a commuter vehicle gave a loud bang. Somebody standing beside me shouted, 'Boko Haram' and suddenly everybody around the area, including myself scampered for safety. Unfolding events are eliciting more negative impression over its name. I was at Yaba Motor Park waiting for a taxi to take me to Oyingbo when I heard the front tyre of a commuter vehicle gave a loud bang. Somebody standing beside me shouted, 'Boko Haram' and suddenly everybody around the area, including myself scampered for safety. Violence surreptitiously crept into its creed. The reality today is that boko haram is equated with terrorism, criminality, banditry, and gangterism. The group has become very indiscriminate in its attack and destruction of lives and properties.The first time I heard the name, I thought it has something

WITH NIGERIANS, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE......Lauretta Onochie

Over the past one year, I have been writing about the impending implosion, explosion and disintegration of the People's Democratic Party of Nigeria, PDP, but it seemed that it would not happen and boooooom! It has happened and the rest as they say, is history.  How did it happen and what gave rise to it? President Jonathan, a man who cannot see beyond his political party, the PDP, was quick to lay the blame solely on the foxy General Olusegun Obasnajo. Those who are die hard Jonathians, especially from the Niger Delta, blame 'Detractors'. Many Nigerians, especially of the Hausa/Fulani stock belong to this category.  I would blame Saharareporters, Premium Times, Punch online and millions of Nigeians who daily use the social media to hold the useless government of President Jonathan to account. "Blame" is not the right word so I would rather, give credit to them for the systematic and consistent way they have exposed the continually evil PDP and its agents. Ob

APC, A Pill Nigerians Must Swallow - By Lauretta Onochie

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Many years ago, before the advent of Paracetamol, APC was the medicine for headache, stomachache and indeed, all aches and pains. Today Nigeria has a headache, a bellyache and all known and unknown aches and pains. The good news is that we know the cause of most of these aches. Diagnosis? Corruption and the poor leadership of the PDP! But it looks like the good old tablet,  APC is back in Nigeria; not in chemists and pharmacies, but as a political conglomeration that promises to heal Nigeria of many of her aches and pains, commonly known as PDP wahala. It is the ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC). Hear them, "We resolve to form a political party committed to the principles of internal democracy, focused on serious issues of concern to OUR PEOPLE, determined to bring corruption and insecurity to an end, determined to grow our economy and create jobs in their millions through education, housing, agriculture, industrial growth etc, and stop the increasing mood of despair and hop

PLAYGROUND BULLIES IN GOVERNMENT HOUSE. - Lauretta Onochie

Child's play! Literarily, that's what the Nigerian leadership is. The sort of thoughts, mind sets and actions of this sham of a democratic government makes one cringe at the thought of being a Nigerian. How did we get to this pass? How did a nation of intelligent, educated, sophisticated and determined people end up having the dregs of their nation presiding over them? In case you think I am being too harsh, I'll quickly explain what I mean. You see, I grew up in Nigeria and lived there until a few years ago. I have since, as a teacher learnt that playground antics are the same or at least similar all over the world. Children engage in crude bargaining methods and mete out appropriate retaliatory sanctions when in their childish and selfish minds, their friends are out of line. It is not uncommon to hear children say, "You know I don't like John and you played with him, since the football is mine, you will therefore not join in my football game?." Man

WANTED IN NIGERIA - THE EGYPTIAN EXAMPLE.

As the whole world was glued to their TV sets, watching as events unfolded in Egypt, the only thought on my mind was about my nation, Nigeria and her long-suffering but docile people. Somebody asked what was wrong with the Egyptians and my answer was that nothing was wrong with them. The Egyptians are a determined people who would not settle for less. They know where they are headed and they will stop at nothing to get there. They have a destination, their own brand of democracy and no obstinate Morsi would stand in their way. They have not cared, nor listened to those who opined that the obstinate Morsi was democratically elected. In their own thinking, if he fouled the terms of his mandate, the Egyptians were not going to keep their own part of the bargain. Simple. Would the world ever have the opportunity to see a re-enactment of the Egyptian saga in Nigeria? My candid opinion would be, "Never". And there are many reasons why I have hastily come to that conclusio

CORRUPTION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA - SMART AJAJA

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Corruption means the abuse of authority or a position of trust in order to gain an undue advantage over others. Institutionalized or endemic corruption implies a widespread abuse of authority or positions of trust by an organised cartel or a group of morally bankrupt entities who over a long period of time expose the generational population to compulsive potentials to become corrupt themselves, corrupt others in order to gain an undue advantage over others and in the process, hurt the system and by extension, the masses. Corruption comes in two major ways; corrupting someone else, or one's self. Corrupting someone means to buy off or pay off someone with influence in order to receive a favour.  Self corruption is when one yields to the compulsive temptation to tamper with valuables under one’s custody arising usually out of greed.  Corruption can destroy a generation and put a country at risk of widespread underdevelopment, retrogression and the arrest of development, a

LEADERS WHO STOKE THE WAR DRUMS BY THEIR RHETORICS ARE INSANE By Gawain Ako

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Freedom and liberty are within you. The cause to dictate your own destiny in peace, sensible dialogue and prosperity on the land to which you are born is ethical and noble, but you must do it in the right way.  Remove that cap of madness, sit down and think. Look at the inner quality of those who make misguided rhetoric to inflame and whip up the drums of war. Are they truly worthy?  From north to south I see a whole lot of sick and brain-dead leaders who stoke the fire of war and corruption. They are successful in carrying along a generation of youth, bewitched and brain-washed in the excitement of a pumping of the adrenalin and blind rage. They simply love it! But do they ever think of the repercussions? True warriors will never attract battle or strife to their people. True warriors and leaders will LEAD BY EXAMPLE. They will stand at the forefront of the struggle; they will not sleep on the bed of the oppressors and romance corruption just because their

"WHERE IS BOKOM HARAM" by Disu Adeyemi Yesufu

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He had just arrived from an OAU meeting in Adi's-Ababa. The then Nigerian President General Ibrahim Babangida alighted from his plane and confronted the Inspector General of Police Mr Etim Iyang right in front of the welcoming press corp. "Where is Anini".  The next day, the newspapers' headlines splashed those three words on their front page with the picture of Anini and that of the Inspector General of Police, Etim Inyang. The Nigerian police was visibly embarrassed. Three months later Anini was caught and the country heaved a sigh of relief from the terror a notorious gang had unleashed on the country for more than a year. Etim Inyang was to later go on voluntary retirement from his post, given the embarrassment. A police superintendent was arrested and shot for being an accessory to the notorious armed gang. The reason I decided to go back this short historical memory lane is to bring out how Nigeria has deteriorated since 1986 when Anini wrec