Category: Meridian

Meridian

Fayose: Time To Call His Bluff

The Source

By Comfort Obi I don’t know how many of you who read what the out-going governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, said after the PDP Presidential Primary in PH, Rivers state. I read it. So, briefly. In the aftermath of the failure of the urbane Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, to clinch the presidential ticket due to former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar’s landslide victory, Fayose’s anger boiled over. So, like a wild fire, he has been raging. And he is threatening the PDP with fire and brimstone. He says he…

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Ambode: Adebule’s Unkindest Cut

The Source

By Comfort Obi I have never met the Deputy Governor of Lagos state, Dr. Idiat Adebule, either officially or unofficially. Like her colleague–Deputy Governors across the country, she is redundant and anonymous, even though her state gives her a little advantage over others.  When you are the Governor, First Lady, or Deputy Governor of Lagos state, it is a plus. Every Governor of Lagos state can always lay a claim to being the number one governor in the country – deserved or not. So is the Lagos First Lady. And,…

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Minister Amaechi Vs. Senator Abe

The Source

By Comfort Obi If anybody was in doubt of why the civilized world laughs at us, the open letter, written to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, by Senator Magnus Abe, published in the ThisDay newspaper of Wednesday,  September 26, puts a seal on the doubt. I read it three times. And each time, my worries increased, with an exclamation to nobody: ‘Look at what politicians have reduced our country to.’ Both the Minister and the Senator are from Rivers state. The former, an Ikwerre man, and the latter,…

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I’m Embarrassed For The Ojukwus

The Source

By Comfort Obi Any true Igbo son who held, and still hold Ikemba Nnewi, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, of the blessed memory, in reverence, should be embarrassed by the turn of events in his nuclear family. They must be embarrassed by the gutter behaviour of a couple of the children he sired! And for women, especially Igbo women, they should rise in anger against these Ojukwu children, specifically, Dr. Ike Ojukwu and Emeka Ojukwu Jnr. Both men deserve no respect from any woman who has any self-esteem. Ever since their father…

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Why Akume & Ortom Should Shut-Up

The Source

By Comfort Obi Former Governor of Benue state and now, the Senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, George Akume and, the incumbent Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom are disgracefully tearing  at each other. In the face of the sufferings of Benue people – economic, physical, emotional – Akume and Ortom are dancing naked in the market square. They are telling the people why  both of them should be spat on the face. The irony: Both see themselves as leaders of their people. My sincere advice to them: Shut-up and hide your faces in…

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Edwin Clark: The Truth, Please

The Source

By Comfort Obi Nigerians have just witnessed another very embarrassing incident. It is the second in the past few weeks. The first was when masked operatives of the Directorate of State Services, DSS, invaded the National Assembly, took it over, and stopped both National Assembly members and staff from accessing their offices. The second is the invasion of the residence of Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark on September 4, by policemen, mercifully, not masked, who carried out a search for over two hours. Both times, the security operatives said they acted…

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Defection: Waiting For Minister Alhassan

The Source

By Comfort Obi I will start with a story. A cousin of mine,  too nervous to be on the wheels  of her car,  has a rather funny and weird driver. He is good looking. Deceptively shy. Full of surprises.  Sometimes, erratic, at other times, as cool as cucumber, and when he feels like, he plays deaf.  But he is serviceable when he wishes to. He feels free with his boss. So ever so often, he crosses the red line. Once, he whatsapped his photograph, dressed to the hilt to his boss.…

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Imo: Okorocha And His Deputies

The Source

By Comfort Obi The tragicomedy in Imo state continued on Tuesday, July 31. The swearing-in of the new Deputy Governor-elect, Calistus Ekenze was aborted. Until his hurried elevation,  Ekenze was the Head of the Civil Service. But for the abortion, he would since have become Governor Okorocha’s third Deputy. But a High Court in the State temporarily denied him that unenviable record. According to media reports,  dignitaries, including Okorocha and Ekenze,  waited in vain, for hours. Neither the Chief Judge of the state,  Paschal Nnadi, nor his representative, appeared for…

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The Police Protest: Our Collective Shame

The Source

By Comfort Obi The photograph which graced the front pages of national dailies on Tuesday, July 3, was a national shame. It is our collective embarrassment. There they were, hundreds of our Policemen, shabbily dressed, wearing different colours of berets/headgears, brandishing their guns, sticks, clubs and green leaves. They are of the once feared Mobile Police Force, PMF. Until they were demystified by the Nigerian big man and woman, who reduced them to houseboys, luggage and handbag carriers, they were, at once, both respected and revered. Members of the public…

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Owerri: Nero Fiddles While Rome Burns

The Source

By Comfort Obi Students of history would, of course, remember  Nero, the frivolous Emperor of the Roman Empire who famously fiddled while Rome burnt. In the South-East where I come from, nothing could be nearer the truth than Nero’s story. Most of our leaders play while the region burns. They engage in frivolities and big-manism while the region is systematically being destroyed. You will excuse me to use the tragedy that is the Ekeukwu market in Owerri as a typical example.  For two years, almost, the case of the famous…

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