SANMI ADEKOLA BLOG

For sometime, I have refrained from commenting on the person and acts of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State even though I should as a stakeholder in Ekiti's project for several reasons, of which am not willing to share in this piece. Like him or hate him, Governor Ayodele Peter Fayose is a controversial person who will say things the way he sees it no matter whose ox is gored. Some which say, this is the character of a typical Ekiti person: saying things the way it is without fear or favour. Hence, many people are wont of labeling the people of the State as being stubborn. Today and this piece also may not be appropriate medium to embark on this discourse too, but not many will forget that it took a man from Ekiti by name: Fabunmi of Schemes to mobilize other Ekiti sons and daughters against the injustice of the Alafin and Oyo Empire in the pre-colonial Nigeria. Otherwise, the entire Yoruba land might have continued to be subjected to inhuman treatment by the ...

This is not the best of times for Nigeria and Nigerians. Indeed, the boys are not smiling just as the ladies are not. The men and women are equally groaning. Everything that could get worse is getting worse; and for the first time; I believe all Nigerians (rich or poor) know that they are not insulated from government policies. As if this is not enough, the  Buhari  President has just embarked on the  deregulation  of the petroleum downstream sector which is like making Nigerians to go from frying pan to fire; though there is no denying the fact that this government meant well, but is good intention enough to assuage the feelings and pains of the people? Over the couple of days, I have read online and my social media apps have been agog with a lot of articles and comments. The more I read, the more I feel the dilemma of Nigerians and the government. The question is where do we go from here? To be more specific, is the removal of subsidy the right th...

Now that the waiting is over, the question on the lips of many is what is in it for me. How does signing the budget of my country affects my  socio-economic  welfare? Does it put food on my table? As a salary earner, does it  translate  to increase in my salary? As a business man, how does it  affect  my business? These and many more questions are on the lips of many Nigerians. Budget as an economic blue print revealing the dynamics of the state concerning the raising and spending of government revenue within a given  period  called a fiscal year is very germane to the  socio-economic  welfare of the citizenry. First, budget is used as a tool for planning; and this becomes more understandable when we see planning as a bridge between where we are and where we want to be in the nearest future. In other words, the budget of a country shows the direction of the economy. That is, area the government is interested in pumping or withdrawing ...

  I have not heard an order given that any cattle herder caught with sophisticated firearms be instantly disarmed, arrested, placed on trial, and his cattle confiscated… Let me repeat, and of course I only ask to be corrected if wrong: I have yet to encounter a terse, rigorous, soldierly and uncompromising language from this leadership, one that threatens a response to this unconscionable blood-letting that would make even Boko Haram repudiate its founding clerics. Herdsmen, let us appreciate, are perhaps humanity’s earliest known tourists. They must be taught however that there is a culture of settlement, and learn to seek accommodation with settled hosts wherever encountered. The leadership of any society cannot stand idly and offer solutions that implicitly deem the massacres of innocents mere incidents on the way to that learning school. Culture is closely intertwined with tourism – the former, in fact, often drives the latter. The destination uppermost in th...

The last few weeks have been turbulence for our dear country Nigeria. It is as if we can never get tire of heating of the polity. Sorry, I mean it is like the political usurpers and custodian of our common heritage cannot get tire of creating political tension and unrest. Day by day, the drama gets dramatic and the song remains the same. We continue to merry-go-round in a cyclical cycle while lives of the present and the future generations are being mortgaged day in day out. Indeed, nothing seems to be working, and every progress made seems to be in retrogression. Unfortunately, the supposed solution providers to our myriad of problems seems to be sleeping or deliberately embarking on sabotage of  our collective destiny. How do we describe the intentional removal of projects that can help to fast-track the development of the country in the budget such as the Lagos -Calabar Rail project, Second Niger Bridge project, among others in preference of self-aggrandizement projects b...

As a student of International Politics, I cannot but agree with my erudite Minister of Power, Housing & Infrastructure on the frequent traveling of PMB because of its many gains; though his absence could also do some harm, so a lot of balancing act needs to be employed. In making this public intervention, I seek to highlight the benefit of global relationships and cooperation in a world that is changing daily as a result of globalization and transborder economics, social and even criminal activities where no one is safe, except all are safe, and to leave the dispassionate observer his opinion after deep reflection on the value, or lack of it, of the President’s foreign trips.  This way I hope every Nigerian who cares about our country will have some information about what their President is doing about the things that concern them. First I will start with context. Barely 2 decades ago (between 1994 and 1998) we would not have quarreled with the description that we were a ...

Communication is an important tool in management and leadership, hence, the stakeholders in this governement will go a long way to assuage the feeling of many Nigerians if messages like this are disseminated from time to time. Below is the latest of the three articles by Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria Minsiter of Finance.  Writing this, my third article on the economy, I’m keenly aware that the question Nigerians want answered is: what is government doing to address our economic challenges? The first thing to state is that there are no quick fixes, but our strategy is clear and the expected outcomes are pretty compelling. Our immediate economic imperative is to provide a Keynesian stimulus to reflate the economy. The 2016 focus is underpinned by a desire to radically reposition Nigeria’s economy. This administration believes very strongly that the previous direction was far from optimal. We are pursuing a fresh direction consistent with our belief in building a resilient economy. T...