Ordinarily the Nigerian Senate's rejection of Ms Lauretta Onochie, a Presidential aide, as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be a victory for democracy and for Nigerians in general. It ought to have signposted a refreshing hope for the increasing role of public opinion and social advocacy in the continuing struggle to shape and enthrone democratic ethos and tenets in our polity.
On Monday, 5th July 2021, Nigerians were again rudely shaken by news of the abduction of 121 students of Bethel Baptist High School, Maramara in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
These latest victims of marauding bandits have joined the long list of schoolchildren that have been abducted in Nigeria.
We note with keen interest the recent 2021 CAF World Giving Index report which ranked Nigerians third in the world. The report, “World Giving Index 2021: A Global Pandemic Report”, published by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), United Kingdom, is an analysis of “charitable behaviour around the globe”.
According to CAF, this 10th edition of its giving index “provides a decade’s worth of combined insight” from looking at “three aspects of giving behaviour”: helping strangers or people we do not know, donating money to charities and volunteering time to a charitable non-governmental organisation.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) joins the rest of the world in marking this year's World Refugee Day. It is a day of poignant reminder of the travails of refugees, and a celebration of their resilience. It is also a day on which the worsening plight of refugees is given more strident amplification by all and sundry. At a period when many parts of the world are facing unprecedented levels of conflict, displacement and death, this year's commemoration calls for even greater sobriety, reflection, empathy, and public awareness than ever before.
It is with deep reflection and a sense of overwhelming sobriety that the National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) joins Nigerians in commemorating this year's Democracy Day. These past two decades and two years of civilian governance have been a chequered sojourn indeed, with the country sadly coming short of the global expectations rightly placed on her based on evident potential.
The resurfacing of the name of an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ms Lauretta Onochie before the Nigerian Senate; for consideration as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) representing Delta State, is an affront on democracy.
Her presentation to the Senate (eight months after the initial ill-advised recommendation by President Muhammadu Buhari was roundly met with public opprobrium and rejected) is a blatant assault on all known norms and ethics of democracy; especially with the necessity to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) is appalled by the news that the Federal Government of Nigeria has suspended the operations of the microblogging social media platform, Twitter in Nigeria. In similar bizarre manner; it also directed the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) to commence the licensing of ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) and other social media platforms in the country.
The government had explained that its decision to suspend Twitter was “because of the persistent use of Twitter for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
We listened with consternation, like many well-meaning Nigerians, to the views expressed by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, on the Channels TV programme, Politics Today, aired on Wednesday May 20th, 2021.
Mr Malami had criticized the imminent ban on cattle open grazing in southern Nigeria, included in the communiqué issued after a meeting of 17 southern governors, due to deaths, violence, destructions and plain criminal breaches that had accompanied this ancient system of animal husbandry.
| No events |
