Digital Revolution And Africa’s Media (1)

On Wednesday, I left Nigeria for South Africa for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2009 which held on Saturday at the prestigious International Conference Centre in Durban. My trip was courtesy of MultiChoice Nigeria and part of the two-day programme was a panel discussion on the “Impact of Digital Media in Africa.” I was [...]

As Amaechi Restores The Garden City’s Lost Glory

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: June 6, 2009
 
On May 29, Nigerians marked ten years of unbroken civilian rule. It is the first time since Nigeria became independent 49 years ago that civilians would superintend over the affairs of the country for so long without the uncouth and self-serving intrusion of the military. That in itself is a [...]

War Against Corruption: Tales From Other Lands

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: May 16, 2009
 
Most Nigerian leaders on assumption of office make the fight against corruption the “epicentre” of their regimes. The incumbent President, Umaru Yar’Adua, is not left out.
When his predecessor Olusegun Obasanjo was first sworn in on May 29, 1999, he also made such a great fuss of his “determination” to [...]

Interesting Times Are Here Again (1)

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: March 31, 2009
 How many of you wake up from sleep these days with the feeling that you are being transported back to the years of 2005 and 2006? That is the feeling I get now. This is the season of political endorsements. It doesn’t matter that the elections are still more than [...]

As Okiro Prepares To Bow Out Of Police

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: March 17, 2009
There are indications that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sir Mike Okiro, will retire sometime in July. If that information is correct, then he should be preparing to proceed on his retirement leave in April. Okiro will be bowing out not because he has served the maximum 35 years. [...]

Why 2011 Worries Me

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
 
Published: March 3, 2009
 
Once again, there is a tantalizing whiff of politics in the air. Not that the perfume ever faded. No. Nigeria is a country in a permanent state of politicking. The end of one election cycle marks the beginning of another. Unlike in some other democracies, there is no break, no [...]

To Avoid Voting N2b In 2010 For Generators

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: February 24, 2009
Attention of Nigerians will, once more, be riveted on the National Assembly, or precisely on the House of Representatives, this week. The lower chamber (or is it equal chamber) of the National Assembly is set to commence debate on the controversial report of its Committee on Power and Steel that [...]

Babangida’s Specious Argument

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: February 10, 2009
Have you heard the latest in this Amusement Park called Nigeria? General Ibrahim Babangida, the self-styled Military President, told Nigerians last Wednesday that he annulled the June 12, 1999 presidential election, won by Chief MKO Abiola, because he wanted to avert “a bloody coup.” This great confession is coming 16 [...]

Still On Yar’Adua’s Vacation

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
 
Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2009
 
 
The world is in crisis. That fact is indubitable. Whether it is global warming with the dire consequences of rising seas, expanding deserts and disappearing forests or the faltering world economy, leaders are working frantically to see how their countries could be pulled back from the precipice because they [...]

2011: Neither Yar’Adua Nor Atiku

By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Published: Tuesday, January 27, 2009
 
A few months ago, my hardworking correspondent in Adamawa State, Sule Lazarus, wrote a story that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, met with his political associates in the state to sound them out on the possibility of returning to his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I have [...]