Solomon's Column

The Oyo state Police Command is determined to shield some of its personnel, who have for long worked hand-in-gloves with some members of the public to intimidate, threaten, attack, blackmail and terrorize the Editor-In-Chief of Federationews2day,  Solomon Adewunmi.   The officers and men attached to the Iyaganku Area Command and the Felele Police station,have always acted faceless residents of Olorunsogo, Molete, who remain solidly behind their actions. On two occasions, one of which was on Sunday, 25 May, 2008, Mrs. Koloko in connivance with the then Divisional Crime Officer(DCO) the Challenge Police station, Orita Challenge, facilitated the arrest of the journalist. While in the office of the DCO, the journalist was repeatedly threatened. In another plot against the journalist,a letter titled” A Petition Against Solomon Adewumi” and dated 20 November, 2008, was received by the Assistant Commissioner of Police(ACP), Iyaganku Area Command, Mrs. Abiodun Ige on 30 A

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde has declared that Nigeria does not need its loan to give good health to the sickly economy. Rather, Lagarde recommended belt tightening measures to restore vibrancy and life to the economy. Lagarde also urges the Federal Government to be flexible in its foreign exchange policy. Indeed, the debt relief granted Nigeria by the Paris club during the tenure of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, could be said to be the biggest debt write off for sub-Saharan Africa. $18 billion of debt written off. The Paris club agreed to write off Nigeria’s debt without an IMF economic programme. Of course, the country would not forget in a hurry, the harrowing experiences it had with the implementation of an IMF programme in the past, this is just as an idea of a national consensus for intensive reforms required to transform the ailing economy could not be woven around an IMF programme. The Nati

During the reign of President Milosevic of Old Yugoslavia, independent journalists were labelled traitors and foreign spies. Several; journalists were killed, put in jail or convicted in the law court. That particular period of Old Yugoslavia’s history, a clique ruled the country. Milosevic ensured that Serbs became the biggest pariah of the international community. The President also ensured that Serbs were guilty of everything, even as 23 per cent of Serbs were sent packing from their homes. Monthly salaries did not exceed $3. Indeed, the Judicial system was not independent and not strong enough to ensure justice for the citizenry. This resulted in Milosevic’s trial for war crimes outside his country. Sadly, the international community did not have confidence in the local courts. Situations like this abound in several countries around the world, still grappling with the hydra like problems of dwindling economic fortunes and corruption. In this countries, the un

                                                                                                                                                 Trade Richard and John Lander discovered  the direction  River Niger flowed. Both men explored the river for the purpose of enabling European traders reach out to Nigerians residing in remote parts of Nigeria. Before the Lander brothers' discovery, Europeans restricted trading to those residing near the coast. At this period, local Chiefs played a prominent role in trading activities. The Chiefs exchanged their goods, slaves inclusive, for those the Europeans had, after which they sold these goods to their own people at exorbitant prices. Then Europeans were unable to get to the remote parts of Nigeria, as a result of the personal interests of the Chiefs, which place them at the centre of economic activities. Although Britain passed a law in 1807, against  slave trade, Portugal continued this practice, with the support of some f

Travelers now spend almost the entire journey engaging in prayers for God’s protection while traveling in commercial vehicles and trucks along the Lagos\Ibadan expressway.They pray fervently not to be involved in  ghastly motor accidents that  have now characterized the expressway,among other tales of woe. Bashed vehicles,blood stains and personal belongings of accident victims littering the road,are now sign posts of the daily tragedy that occurs along the road. Not long ago,three occupants of a sleek new model black Honda Accord car with Lagos registration number had a collision with a truck.The car somersaulted several times before coming to a halt,while a middle aged man,clad in brown native attire survived the accident with serious bruises,the other two occupants,a lady and another man died instantly. On the same day,at another spot along the road,some hundreds of meters to Ogere,a town along the expressway,two towing trucks made spirited efforts to

The daily lives of Nigerians are woven around the various tribes and ethnic groups in the country.  Where an individual comes from, largely determines his or her fate on several issues bothering on social, political and  economic prospects. People of the same tribe have, overtime, established unions that would cater for their interests, wherever they find themselves, outside of  their home communities. These unions are functional in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.  Such unions have for long, embarked on developmental programmes, which originally is the responsibility of the Government. Sadly, Government has failed to live up to the expectations of the people, who are increasingly embarking on self help initiatives, through these unions. Most Nigerians attribute their difficulties in life to the tribal consciousness in all facets of National life. In an attempt to ensure equity, Government established the Federal Character Com

Agriculture has the potentials of been a major revenue earner in Nigeria, if only farmers had not been neglected for several years and deprived of needed incentives. Indeed, farmers in rural areas have never been encouraged to remain within their localities to propel increased farm production, while production at the local government level has made the availability of schools,Primary health Care Delivery, functional electricity and potable water a mirage. The caretaker committees at the grassroots have only succeeded in impoverishing the rural populace. At present, agricultural equipment and machinery are sourced from advanced countries, this alone, is an impediment to self sufficiency in food production. Indeed, sub-standard farm equipment and machinery to a large extent affected output in most farms in the country, just as access to finance is a major challenge for farmers. Bank interest rates are not friendly, if at all the banks are ready to give out loans to

The present administration in Nigeria intends to anchor its policies on transparency, integrity and honesty. For several years successive administrations in the country have failed to incorporate the aforementioned in national the life. Rather, activities and actions have been channeled towards stagnancy, retardation and underdevelopment. At the inauguration boards and parastatals in Oyo state, on 24 June, 1999, the then Governor of Oyo state, Alhaji Lam Adesina, of blessed memory, stated : ”We took our time in ensuring that men and women of integrity and probity are chosen among innumerably qualified men and women. We don’t like to be proved wrong and this is why we implore you to rise up to the challenge and improve the lot in your work place. ”We are very serious when we promised our people that probity and public accountability will be our watch word, most of the areas, you have been posted to, are afflicted and already grounded by financial impropriety and sq

The Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN), through its secretary, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim, had in August, 2015, called on the state Government to ensure  the prosecution of any public or civil servant found wanting ; in its quest to rid the state civil and public service of corrupt practices. According to Rev. Ibrahim, prosecuting corrupt officials is necessary to rid the state of those who enriched themselves at the expense of the government and people of Kaduna state. ”I believe that there are people that may not be working in this state and are still collecting money from the government coffers. Just like we have been hearing that one person is collecting the salaries of 10, 15 or 20 and above. People that are not working with the government but they are collecting salaries from the Kaduna state government, or people that are ghost workers but they collect money. We have heard cases whereby somebody died for a long time and then someone el

The percentage of Judges and Magisterates in Nigeria,who have the tendency to sacrifice their integrity and career on the altar of filthy lucre are increasing by the day. Most Nigerians, have a tale or the other to tell of their experiences in the courtrooms, good or bad, with the latter case occupying the majority position. Interim injunctions, rulings and delivered judgements from the court rooms in the country have always attracted comments,questions and debates among the people, who still view the Judiciary,as the last resort and only hope of the common man. However,the common man still finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that the financial position of an individual determines what he comes out with from the court room. In 2004, Justice Stanley Nnaji of the Enugu state Judiciary was suspended from office by the National Judicial Council(NJC), for ordering the then  Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, to remove the then Anambra state Govern

Even though a sizable number of ”pressmen” as government officials always say, are on the payroll of the ruling party in Nigeria today, that does not distract professionally resolute Journalists from outlining the chamelionic nature of governance. Failure is a recurrent feature, when the people’s voices are ignored and the imposition of the desires of a few occupys the front page. Politicians have over the years groomed army of youths to promote their interests. Majority of these youths do not necessarily possess the basic qualification-Senior Secondary School Certificate(SSCE) to make any meaningful impact in life. To fill the vacuum, politicians console these category of youths with limitless supply of outlawed substances and alcohol, so long as the youths do their bidding. The unemployment rate in Nigeria is at an all time high, with unemployable graduates constituting  a significant number of the unemployed. Of worry is the fact that most Primary, Secondar

The socio-economic fortunes of Nigeria continues the downward slide, despite the present administration’s repeated assurances that it would take steps to plug all visible and invisible leakages. Truly, the bail out initiative of the Federal Government has gone a long way in enabling state governments to clear the backlog of salary arrears owed workers, however, governance has become epileptic in most states, as the states grapple with paucity of funds. In the private sector, companies are having a field day exploiting helpless workers, who have no alternative, but to cope with their employers’ slave labour tendencies. Some states have abolished free education, as infrastructure in schools deteriorate daily, with children increasingly developing dislike for education. Interestingly, concerned Nigerians are already promoting devaluation of the Naira, as a way to accommodate the economic reality of the present times. The Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) has ceaseless