Solomon's Column

Banditry, killings, kidnapping, armed robbery and violence now characterize daily living in different parts of Nigeria. The feeble response by government has further aggravated the almost helpless situation. The impression Nigerians have, is that the present administration does not have the know how to restore normalcy. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says Nigerians no longer  trust their leaders who neither transparent nor accountable, which has resulted in the clamour for secession. Excerpts : Banditry, killings, kidnapping, armed robbery and violence are the signposts of living in Nigeria, what do you think is the way out ?  Naturally, in a system of mankind, poverty takes the most  percentage of what can fuel crisis and violence. This is why the major challenges to be managed by government, revolve on the provision of basic amenities and  functional infrastructure. As regards this, succes

Not long ago, President Muhammadu Buhari, suspended the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, over issues relating to Justice Onnoghen's assets declaration forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau. President Buhari based his actions on the order of the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justic Danladi Umar. A sizable number of Nigerians at home and abroad have condemned the President's action, they argue that his action did not follow the rule of law and due process. Interestingly, a section of the political class applaud the action of the President while another section maintain that Justice Onnoghen' suspension was politically motivated. In this interview the Founder, Spiritual head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the Federal Government should start building strong institutions and not strong individuals who are above the law. Excerpts : What is your reaction to the suspension of the

Government at all levels and the people are now at home with the fact that there is extreme hunger and poverty in the land. This is no longer a subject of argument, even though a large percentage of Nigerians insist that the three tiers of government are doing almost nothing to address these threats  to human existence. Most government agencies and those in the private sector take advantage of the unfortunate  economic situation to ridicule Nigerians. This was the case on Thursday 24 January, 2019, when the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) organized a Consumers Outreach Programme at the Mapo hall, Ibadan, Nigeria, obviously for the downtrodden and economically oppressed  class in society, which is a far cry from the stakeholders forum, soon to be organized by the Commission at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. This forum is strictly by invitation. The posters containing information about the stakeholders forum pasted  at different locations within the city prepared the gr

Nigerians have began asking questions on the allocation of one Billion Naira for President Muhammadu Buhari's travels in 2019 and 98 million Naira for his feeding for the same period. They argue that millions of people have for several years contended with hunger, poverty and  lack of basic amenities, with reprieve still not yet in sight. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that the 2019 Budget proposal the President presented to the National Assembly is extravagant and wasteful. Excerpts : The President is to spend One Billion Naira for his travels and 98 million Naira for his feeding in 2019,  don't yout think these figure are outrageous ? Nigerian leaders, generally, since  independence till date, have not been  able to offer us good governance, if the depreciation profile of the Naira, the increasing profile of the poverty indices, decreasing profile of the citizens' life span,

In politics, lessons are repeatedly  taught and learnt. It is now left for those involved to modify their gains and loses to suit the situation they eventually find themselves. Regrettably, the laws of Niccolo Machiavelli have all along been wrongly applied in this clime. After the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) convention in 2003, Chief Barnabas Gemade made spirited attempts to be adopted as the Presidential candidate of the United Nigeria Peoples Party(UNPP), but failed. This was Chief Gemade's fall back option, when his future in the PDP became uncertain. Indeed, Chief Gemade was the backbone of the UNPP, in his home state, Benue, even though he was a card carrying member of the PDP. Not surprisingly, meetings were held in his home, with Chief Gemade in attendance. Of note, is that his followers held him in high esteem. Curiously, it was discovered that the former PDP National Chairman, contested the Presidential primaries, alongside, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, with the