Category: Meridian

Meridian

Imo: Okorocha, Stop The Looting, Shame The Devils

The Source

By Comfort Obi The seeming confirmation of the story was not sweet to the ears – the story of the alleged massive looting going on in Imo state. The confirmation, by a reliable source, came on a wrong day, a day the people had dubbed the real beginning of the end of their nearly eight years in the wilderness. The story was a kill-joy. The governor-elect, The Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, was inaugurating members of his Inaugural Committee. And, even though only the appointed members were expected to be allowed into the…

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Nigeria: An Unhappy President, an Angry People

The Source

By Comfort Obi We have a quotable quote from President Muhammadu Buhari. He says he is unhappy. “I am the unhappiest President in the world”, national newspapers quoted Mr President as saying. He spoke from a foreign land, Amman, Jordan, where he addressed some Nigerians who live in that country. “It is uncharitable of those who accuse me of not being worried over the killings going on in Zamfara”, he added. The killings are not  exclusive to Zamfara. Every part of Nigeria is soaked in blood – especially parts of the North-west and…

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Dubai Robbery: Interrogating Abike Dabiri-Erewa

The Source

By Comfort Obi Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, is in trouble. A section of the country – the Igbo – is angry with her.  She has unwittingly stepped on the toes of the Igbo. And the people, ever on their guard, are angry with her. They are crying blue murder. They are accusing her of discrimination. Don’t blame them, much, if you think they are being overly sensitive. They probably have reasons to. At times, they have been brazenly discriminated against in their own fatherland. Here’s one…

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Rivers: Mr President, Please, Shame Them

The Source

By Comfort Obi “A mad person feels no shame. The shame is felt by relations” The above is an Igbo saying. It’s one I take seriously. On a number of times, it has guided me. I think President Muhammadu Buhari should think about this saying as the scary situation in Rivers state unfolds. Going through national newspapers, everyday, these past few weeks, my question has remained the same: Does Mr President know the truth about Rivers? Or, have they been giving him a different story line? The problem in Rivers, a top…

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Anambra: The Tragedy of The Uba Brothers

The Source

By Comfort Obi In Anambra state, the ego of a political dynasty has just been punctured. Its members have self-destructed. And got dismantled during a political battle comparable to that of the Biblical Goliath and David. You must have heard of the three Uba brothers -Ugochukwu, Andy and Chris – from Anambra state. Ugochukwu is the eldest, and Chris, the last.  Of the same parents, the brothers are politicians, and, each accomplished in his own right. They have name recognition. They are very rich. Two of them, Andy and Chris, are billionaires. They have limitless…

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Imo: The Emperor’s Long Goodbye

The Source

By Comfort Obi The rising sun has finally pushed the darkness back. Initially, nobody believed it for, the darkness was extremely thick. But as the reality sank, the drums rolled out. And the people rolled in an unadulterated excitement. Phones rang. Text messages stretched from Imo to all parts of the world where Imolites reside. The messages were the same.  Victory, at last, they proclaimed. Don’t blame them. It seemed the victory would never come; That Imolites have been condemned to a very long haul of gnashing of teeth. The…

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I Am Embarrassed For The South-South

The Source

By Comfort Obi As I watched the pictures which accompanied a news story on Channels Television, Tuesday, March 5. I shook my head, more in anger than of pity. There they were, dozens of people, natives of Abonnema, Rivers state, their luggages on their heads, the little they could manage to pack, leaving their homes in droves. They were running away, headed to wherever, fearing for their lives. They would become refugees till whenever. Their Traditional Ruler, HRH Disrael Bob-Manuel, very worried, has appealed to them to come back; that…

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Saraki: Finally, They Got Him

The Source

By Comfort Obi For two days, I battled, with myself, whether to write on the unbelievable routing of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in the February 23 Presidential/ National Assembly Elections  or not. It was the same way I battled before my write-up on the uncommon fall of Godswill Akpabio, former Akwa Ibom state governor, former PDP Senate Minority Leader and, soon to be former Senator in the same election. The difference: While Saraki’s took me the whole of 48 hours to decide, Akpabio’s was less than 20 minutes. Even the…

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Akpabio: The Uncommon Fall

The Source

By Comfort Obi Everything about Godswill Akpabio, former PDP two-term governor of Akwa Ibom state is uncommon – or so he says. As a governor, he gave himself that name. An uncommon governor. A man of uncommon touch. An uncommon performer. An uncommon organiser. Indeed, he is also an uncommon husband. Married to a beautiful Igbo girl, Unoma, both are a spectacle to behold in public.  As a governor, each time Akpabio was giving a speech in public and, Unoma was present, she would, like a police orderly, stand behind her husband.…

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Ogun: Buhari Loses Best Friend

The Source

By Comfort Obi For most of the time, he was not firm. He was  aloof, almost, to the affairs of his party. He had a penchant for eating his cake,  and still wanting to have it. Now, President Muhammadu Buhari and his party the APC, seem to have lost a grip on, at least, four states. In Rivers state, the party has been shut out of presenting candidates for any office, except the Presidency. Zamfara remains uncertain. And, in this mismanagement of party affairs,  arising from an untidy and commercialised Primaries,…

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