Tag: Prof Sunny Ahwefeada

Analysis & Opinion: Of Policing And Criminality In Nigeria

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By Sunny Awhefeada   There is something decidedly Nigerian which is deeply rooted in hypocrisy and the inability to admit our foibles until they are pointed out to us by outsiders. Bound to this consciousness is our laid back attitude and tendency to celebrate half measures usually camouflaged as achievements. We are daily pushed away from values which should drive our aspirations and around which a national consensus can be constructed.   The capacity or desire to interrogate issues has taken flight and in its place is a feeling of…

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Analysis & Opinion: Lawless

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By Sunny Awhefeada   Not too long ago, I think it was during the regime of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a directive banning the “spraying” of Naira notes in Nigeria. The directive carried with it a string of sanctions that await offenders. Many Nigerians were elated about the directive saying that “yes, sanity is about to be restored to how we handle the Nigerian currency and bring a modicum of decency to parties and allied celebrations”. How wrong were they? The…

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Analysis &Opinion: Zuma Is Not A Nigerian And South Africa Is Not Nigeria

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By Sunny Awhefeada   One recurring thought or query that must be gnawing at the mind of former South African President, Jacob Zuma, now serving jail term, must be why he wasn’t a Nigerian where despite the ridiculous oddities that now encumber his name he would still be addressed as His Excellency! He would be ensconced in a hilltop mansion with countless number of rooms. He would eat amala or pounded yam or tuwo with a generous swamp of his choice soup or just anything that caught the fancy of…

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Analysis & Opinion: Oh, My Kaduna!

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By Sunny Awhefeada     Places and people share a strong bond that is almost inexplicable. Memories, whether they hurt or heal, are constituted by events which happen in places as influenced by people. The place of one’s birth and the location where one grew up both enshrine nostalgic feelings that remain imperishable while one sojourns on this side of the vale. Kaduna, Ibadan, Evwreni and the densely forested village of Imobi beyond the River Oluwa in Ondo State remain permanent in my house of memory. I was born in…

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Analysis & Opinion: Nigeria Will Survive

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By Sunny Awhefeada,   So much has been said about the idea of Nigerian unity. Some consider it to be unsustainable. Some think it is a fraud. While others think that there is no basis for it. Commentators and agitators are quick to point at other entities that have collapsed in the course of history. They glibly mention Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, Yugoslavia and more to justify why they think that Nigeria will go up in blazes. Presently, there is a cacophony of voices advocating for the final…

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Analysis & Opinion: Southern Governors’ Self-Mockery

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By Sunny Awhefeada   It has become crystal clear that the euphoria that greeted the meeting of the Southern Governors’ Forum which held in Asaba, the capital of Delta State on 11 May was too early or grossly misplaced. The meeting which was attended by 13 out of the 17 governors also had 4 deputy governors representing their bosses. What is now known as the Asaba Declaration containing a 12-point communiqué, which, among other things, focused on insecurity, national dialogue and restructuring, was issued at the end of the meeting.…

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Analysis &Opinion: I Pledge To Nigeria My Country?

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  By Sunny Awhefeada   One of the earliest verses any Nigerian child commits to memory is the national pledge. The other one is the national anthem. Both renditions derive from an impassioned patriotism. The composers looked deep into the soul of Nigeria at a time when it was a country if ever it was and deployed the most sublime of tropes in encoding our articles of faith. As children, my generation rolled its tongue rendering both verses in alignment with the idea of Nigeria. Both were compulsory renditions during…

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Analysis & Opinion: Tomorrow is June 12

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By Sunny Awhefeada   Time does fly. That is why the events woven around the phenomenon that came to be known as June 12 seem to have happened only yesterday when they actually took place nearly thirty years ago! June 12 refers to June 12, 1993. That day like tomorrow’s June 12 was a Saturday. It was the day that a presidential election that was adjudged to be the nation’s freest and fairest took place. Unfortunately, the election was annulled by the very hand that made it to happen. June…

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Analysis &Opinion: Nigeria’s Unknown Gunmen

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  By Sunny Awhefeada Nigeria is a nation awash with metaphors which more often than not are couched in indirectness or something akin to what students of Literature will call euphemism. Never wanting to sound offensive many Nigerians deploy verbal niceties to cushion the effect of events or mitigate harmful consequences. Thus a measure or even a heavy dose of tentativeness usually dominates our submissions. We struggle to sound right or correct all the time so that we will not end up offending people. Those who choose to call a…

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Analysis & Opinion: The Nigerian Child

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  By Sunny Awhefada,     The most significant segment of Nigeria’s demography which governments at all levels have neglected in the last twenty years is the children bracket. The present debacle in the name of insecurity be it terrorism, insurgency or banditry aligns with the destructive consequences of not paying attention to our children and youth. The Urhobo have a saying that arien omodiaa arien okpako diaa which means you cannot be a good adult if you were not a good child. We were told some years ago that…

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