After the election, traditional Buhari’s critics, also known as the Wailing Wailers, started several hash tags on Twitter, such as #BabaGoSlow, #100WastedDays, #BudgetOfYams, #TyrantBuhari and more recently and embarrassingly, #BringBackCorruption. To all these, Buhari’s supporters have responded well too. They have launched counter attacks like: #GoOnBuhari to counter the accusations of his critics that he is a dictator. Apart from this, noticing the loss of steam and the seeming defencelessness of Buharists on social media, neo-Buharists regrouped and decided to do “something unique.” They launched what they called, #iStandWithBuhari.

The group promoting the hash tag has been vocal on social media for a while now. On getting to see the group’s sponsored advert, I immediately put a call through to its secretariat sometimes last month. I was told the group intends to mobilise a whopping 9 million Nigerians to a rally in support of President Buhari. I asked if there was any election in sight which the President was participating. To this, the receiver of my call answered in the negative. He only told me of the president’s war against corruption and the commencement of operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). The question I asked myself after ending the call was: Why the rally?
http://olalekanadigun.com/istandwithbuhari-limits-political-opportunism-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Apart from those who witnessed the Mallam Muhammadu Maitatsine riots in the ’80s, many would have beaten their chests that terrorism cannot be an issue in Nigeria as we know it today. These people have obvious reasons to support their optimism. It is no longer news that terrorism is now an, if not the main, issue in African politics. The terrorists did their very worst in early 2015 attacking Garrissa University in Kenya leaving 148 innocent students dead in the process. The al-Shabab has since claimed responsibility for the attack and has grown even bolder and more daring that ever. The Boko Haram has constituted itself into a regular menace in Nigeria’s north eastern region gaining notoriety for the death of tens of thousands and injuring more others. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) activities has gotten it world attention good enough to convince the most ridiculous doubting Thomas of the reality of the threat pose by these groups on us as a people. The question then is how to fight it!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/terrorism-lean-purse-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Questions that that I often wonder about are: Why is religion so misunderstood by those who should even know better? Is culture not supposed to be part of religion? Why do some people do negative things in the name of religion? There was an outrage on the social media some weeks ago about President Muhammadu Buhari “forcing” the minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to cover her hair during a meeting in Qatar. The pictures that surfaced online showed the minister, with her hair covered, signing a bilateral agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes Income in Doha.

http://olalekanadigun.com/cover-hair-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

There’s only one reason why people vote an incumbent out of office: when they find someone better. You have to present the voters with a better alternative to your opponent. Show them why your candidate is clearly different, and why that difference makes him a superior choice. The party will have a difficult task convincing the typical Northern voter, considering the terrible reputation the PDP has with Northern politicians, especially the insults its members hurled at the APC on African Independent Television (AIT), making it look like being a Northerner was evil during the 2015 electoral campaigns. We keep our fingers crossed to see how the party rebrands its image in the strategic Northern region, the worst hit since the inception of Boko Haram insurgency. Let us keep fingers crossed how Modu salvages this situation for the party!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/who-stole-pdps-thinking-cap-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

The 2016 US presidential campaign is turning out to be dramatic. Many analysts have predicted a something close to an easy victory for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton to have an easy ride in the primaries. I also recall severally downplaying the chances of Republican top-notch, Donald Trump, in some of my write-ups. I was proven all wrong as the results of recent primaries turned in.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/political-establishment-hillary-clinton-and-2016-elections-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Those familiar with politics (and the game of power generally) know that there are no rules; and if there are, these are often flouted. It is a “win or be damned” situation. The opposition is a camp some are just waiting in for the time there will be “vacancies” in the ruling party. There are many things “winners” do that “losers” don’t do: As a winner, you make important political appointments (and terminate them in some cases); you write a book which almost certainly becomes a bestseller; you have guaranteed news coverage on daily basis; you are made guest of (dis)honour at social functions; your community proudly associates with your (“our son’s”) accomplishments; somehow, everyone gets your number and the phones are always ringing. These opportunities elude losers, not only in Nigeria, but everywhere! In Nigeria, one is an unfortunate species if you are in the opposition. Tinubu and Awolowo can tell you their experiences of being in the opposition. Incumbent office-holders are in perpetual campaign mode. You will hear things like, we are holding a “Thank You Rally”, organised by any willing group who can get the administration to provide the funds for this. After winning an election, the victorious party immediately starts planning and campaigning for its re-election bid. The opposition or the challengers make the error of waiting until the “traditional” election season comes to begin their campaign. This is a mistake the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) does not want to make, as it has rolled out its plans not to stay in the opposition for more than four years!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/pdps-strategy-for-2019-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

From history, Ibrahim Dasuki, the father of the embattled former National Security Adviser, was the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, Great-great-grandson of Uthman Dan Fodio. Prior to his becoming the Sultan, he held the influential (traditional) title of Baraden Sokoto. The older Dasuki was the first Sultan from the Buhari line of the house of the great Dan Fodio. As a Sultan, Dansuki’s father was the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslim community. He was so influential and worked hard for the happiness of the Talakawas by building several schools and establishing adult literacy classes. He played the role of “the fourth estate realm” in the society. He vehemently opposed the highhandedness of several military regimes, which sometimes put him on the military’s spotlight. His overt posture against the military rule soon earned him the matching orders from the establishment and his subsequent “dethronement” in 1996 by the Sani Abacha Junta.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/dasukigate-the-second-fall-of-a-dynasty-by-remi-otuneye/

The Yorubas have a saying “Were dun wo loja, sugbon ko se bi lomo” meaning “A mad man is fun to watch in the market square, but no one desires having him as a son”. My first instinct on reading one Femi Fani-Kayode’s letter, if not properly so-called, and his later remarks, to President Muhammadu Buhari’s maiden media chat, was like “Has this man gone mad again?” Even before I could read the contents of the supposed letter and his latter comments, I came to the firm conclusion agreeing with the Yoruba saying (quoted earlier) and alluded to by Professor Ola Rotimi (of blessed memory) in his, Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again, this man had for a long time gone mad, and he is in desperate need for psychiatric attention!
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olalekanadigun.com/fani-kayode-has-gone-mad-again-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, PDP presidential campaign spokesman in the 2015 election in his characteristic shamelessness, irredentism (Association of Chest Beaters), sore political losers, ethnic jingoists and their likes -who should, like Osriches, have their heads buried in shame and eat the humble pie- are battling tooth and nail to distract the government from its spirited fight against corruption. This is coming on the heels of a country where thousands of innocent women, men and children molested, killed and maimed, including millions displaced from their economic livelihood. The most vocal of all Mr Femi, who told us (before the suddenly turned mad) the 12 Commandments For President Jonathan one of which is that “ If Goodluck wants his fortunes and the fortunes of his party to change and if he wants peace to return to our shores he simply has to do twelves things…he must write an open letter of apology…for his manipulative ways and the gross incompetence and ineptitude” which the Government of President Muhamudu Buhari government is bent on correcting.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/the-tyranny-of-the-majority-and-the-fight-against-corruption-by-remi-otuneye/

Just recently, Olakunle Taiwo of Nigerian Tribune made the following confession on how a disastrous interview with ‘Professor Itse Sagay’ made him lose his job. He said, on getting to know how silly he has been, “speaking with the wrong person, instead of Professor Itse Sagay…I almost collapsed at the lobby of the hotel which was hosting my honeymoon. What have I done to myself, my career, my bosses, my employers, my company that feeds my family, God!? I felt like asking the ground to open up and swallow me. My wife of two days was in the room oblivious of the damage that had been done to our honeymoon. With me, the honeymoon was over in just two days!”
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olalekanadigun.com/as-nigerian-journalists-keep-goofing-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

On Kanu’s arrest and continued detention by the Directorate of State Service (DSS), my new friend brought out the traditional pro-Biafran argument of “marriage incompatibility”. He argued: if a marriage is no longer working, the best solution is to part ways or divorce peacefully. For my friend Charles, he told me, he didn’t witness the war, but bloodshed is way out of the cards as far as achieving “self-determination” for Biafra is concerned. He argued that the solution is just too simple. The solution he proposed is for Nigeria to conduct a United Nations (UN) supervised referendum to decide the future of Biafrans.

I made him realise that I am not really against Biafra as such, although he found this difficult to believe. I informed him that what I am against is the fact that the agitations by people like Kanu is only filled with political opportunism, which the President Jonathan administration represented. I quoted Carl von Clausewitz, the great Prussian general, in his classic On War, where he writes, “Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction, which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen war.”
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http://olalekanadigun.com/can-biafra-be-achieved-through-a-referendum-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

The media has come under attack once more. This time, it is not just the mainstream media, but the new or social media that is under attack thanks to the introduction of a controversial Social Media Bill by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi South) on the floor of the Senate. The bill, among other things, proposes:

Up to seven years in prison or N2 million fine for “anyone who intentionally propagates false information that could threaten the security of the country or that is capable of inciting the general public against the government through electronic message.”
Up to years in prison or $10,000 fine or both for anyone disseminating via text message, Twitter, WhatsApp, or any other form of social media an “abusive statement.”
This also involves messages intending to “set the public against any person and group of persons, an institution of government or such other bodies established by law.”
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http://olalekanadigun.com/press-freedom-buhari-and-the-social-media-bill-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Just recently, according to the official accounts of the military, members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (also known as Shiites) reportedly blocked the route of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai’s motorcade on his way to the palace of the Emir of Zauzau, thus prompting a confrontation between the Army and the group. The army has consistently maintained that the group attacked with ‘crude weapons’ and fearing that the life of the army chief may have been in danger, lethal force was used to clear a route of escape for the army chief. It is quite unfortunate that the function of law of enforcement agency is to protect lives and properties, given in a sharp reminder, the clash in Zaria was similar events that triggered the rapid evolution of the Boko Haram insurgency which has left thousands dead and millions perpetually displaced.
Was the army chief’s life so-threatened to warrant the use of force? Was the military authority resisted? Were the Shiite peaceful and lawful in their gathering? Was the display of “lethal and dangerous weapon” lawful blocking government roads? Who permit the gathering? Were they threat to the rest of us? Were they persuaded (as less dangerous means) to make way for the military convoy? Were they willing to do so after much persuasion by the top military officers? If no reasonable answers could be provided to the above, no authority can exists within constituted authority. There can never be a dual king in a kingdom. What might have played out was a display of the Machiavellian maxim of the end justifying the means. Ak47 wielded by armed forces are not chewing sticks-It is used to consolidate the state.
Continue reading on... http://olalekanadigun.com/the-military-shiites-and-the-use-of-force-by-remi-otuneye/

Only recently did the the Obafemi Awolowo University Registrar, Mr. D.A Awoyemi, signed a release dated 3rd December, 2015 reads in part: “This is to inform the generality of the students of the University and the University Community that the activities of the Students’ Union are hereby SUSPENDED by the University Authority until further notice.” (Italics mine).

Need we remind the University management or whoever signed this unfortunate release that the students, whose Union, it SUSPENDED, are but adults? Are we to educate those who should know better, but deliberately chose to be ignorant, that these students have the constitutional right to freedom of association? What are Union members from the prestigious Faculty of Law doing about the alleged suspension? Continue reading on...
http://olalekanadigun.com/on-the-suspension-of-great-ife-students-union-and-other-matters-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Please Igbos do not ever use the word Biafra in referring to us. Biafra is a village in Portugal. A Portuguese, during the age of exploration, in the 1400s, gave the Atlantic Ocean area directly below the lower River Niger the name the bight of Biafra. That Portuguese sailor probably came from the village of Biafra and gave the name Bight of Biafra in honor of his village? Continue reading on...
http://olalekanadigun.com/biafra-is-a-village-in-portugal-ozodiobi-osuji/

As important as the election seem, it was, and still, my view that Kogites have must be the most unfortunate people having to choose the lesser between two evils. So, having followed the campaigns of both candidates as objectively as I could, I posted my verdict on the election on my Facebook profile that APC’s Audu stood 51 per cent chance of winning a “closely contested election” some days to the Day of Decision. It only appeared to me that Audu’s chances keeps increasing as the polling day approaching; with Wada, the incumbent governor, progressively declining!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/on-kogi-inconclusive-election-and-other-matters-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

The world is increasingly organized along larger political areas; consider the size of the USA, Canada, China, Brazil, India, Russia, and if you see the EU as a single polity, the EU. Therefore, it was of no interest for me to talk about a people whose entire area is, may be, one hundred miles across, north to south and West to East. Alaigbo is actually the size of some large counties in the USA! I certainly did not think of Biafra.

The term Biafra, I understand, is derived from the Portuguese village of Mafra; Africa is supposed to become decolonized and its European names replaced with African names. That notwithstanding, many Igbos have doubled down on their Portuguese name and insist on being called Biafrans. Shame on them! Their proper name is Alaigbo.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/my-final-look-at-the-igbo-problem-of-nigeria-by-ozodi-osuji/

After the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris only a few days ago, France has decided to invoke Article 42.7 of the European Union (EU) treaty. The article is a mutual defence clause, that states, among other things, that “if a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other member states shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with article 51 of the United Nations charter. This shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states.” France has already been struggling with foreign military commitments, it admitted.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/france-asks-european-union-military-assistance/

In 2012 when General Adrew Owoye Azazi (rtd) the then National Security Adviser (NSA) told us what some we never wanted to hear: the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was behind the veil of Boko Haram. Had this statement came from a Northerner, some of our Southern friends would have publicly demanded for his head. But, will they? Instead of doing this, the Cabinet “branch” of Boko Haram put enormous pressure on President Jonathan to get him sacked from his position and left to die under controversial circumstances in a plane crash. Those who were familiar with these events know Azazi was actually living on borrowed time on that job since making the statement!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/sambo-dansuki-and-steven-davis-report-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Dr. Doyin Okupe is one Nigeria that needs little introduction. He means different things to different people depending on one’s political persuasions. Having served as spokesman for former President Goodluck Jonathan, no doubt, he made many enemies just as he made new friends. Wearing a new hat, he came public only recently releasing his account of why the former president lost the last presidential election.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/doyin-okupe-dont-cry-for-us-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

To many people who are familiar with events in the Nigerian political sphere, the man, Joe Igbokwe, needs no introduction. Depending on how one views him, he is an activist, publisher, journalist, politician, a dogged fighter, and a writer. Joe is seen within the All Progressives Congress (APC) circles as a patriot, nationalist and a dogged publicist having been the party’s perhaps most vocal state publicity secretary. But to the ethnic chauvinists, he is nothing but a rebel, infidel, or a traitor. His only offence to this latter class of people is his strong loyalty to his party’s cause and the fact that he holds his views and is never ashamed to defend them. His latest of this is views on the controversial topic of Biafra.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/joe-igbokwe-on-biafra-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

The situation the PDP found itself today is not new. The party will not be the first to lose its priced possession; neither will it be the last. So no one should weep for, or lose sleep over that for the party. The party has to be able to weather the storms, so it must work extra hard, if not harder; fight tooth and nail; and go the extra mile to maintain its only one thing left – its brand.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/rebranding-the-pdp-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

Before we are misunderstood, let us make ourselves clear. We support Hillary Rodham Clinton not because we believe she is faultless (we know of no one who is), but because we need to change the way some people, chauvinists if you will like to call them that, look at and use the word “Impossible”. To this category of human species, the fact that some things have not happened means it can never happen. Also, this class of higher animals appear not to be able to cope with the fact that the United States can have a female President in their lifetime, though they will applaud the fact that Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current Liberian president. If, in all, Africa has produced seven female Heads of State (including those appointed in interim capacities); US neighbours in South America has produced nine (including the present ones in Argentina and Brazil); not to talk of those in Europe and Asia, then we are amazed at to why some people still scandalized about the possibility of Hillary becoming the first woman to break that jinx!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/why-hillary-clinton-will-be-united-states-45th-president/

Before we are misunderstood, let us make ourselves clear. We support Hillary Rodham Clinton not because we believe she is faultless (we know of no one who is), but because we need to change the way some people, chauvinists if you will like to call them that, look at and use the word “Impossible”. To this category of human species, the fact that some things have not happened means it can never happen. Also, this class of higher animals appear not to be able to cope with the fact that the United States can have a female President in their lifetime, though they will applaud the fact that Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current Liberian president. If, in all, Africa has produced seven female Heads of State (including those appointed in interim capacities); US neighbours in South America has produced nine (including the present ones in Argentina and Brazil); not to talk of those in Europe and Asia, then we are amazed at to why some people still scandalized about the possibility of Hillary becoming the first woman to break that jinx!
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http://olalekanadigun.com/why-hillary-clinton-will-be-united-states-45th-president/

The Itsekiri ethnic nationality of Warri, Delta State, has dissociated itself from the calls for creation of a Biafra Republic out of Nigeria as being drummed by some Igbo interest groups in the South-East.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/itsekiri-disowns-biafra/

After all the drama characterising the screening of those who are to work with President Muhammadu Buhari as ministers, the Nigerian senate in performing its constitutionally-assigned duty cleared all those nominated. Though, legally speaking, we might conclude it is a forgone conclusion about the screening, the dusts raised by the exercise, especially with the screening and confirmation of the immediate past former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, is still with us.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/ministerial-screening-and-the-dance-of-shame-by-olalekan-waheed-adigun/

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has seized bullet-proof vehicles, huge cash and jewellery from five prominent Nigerians fingered in the money laundering allegation against former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/efcc-seizes-diezanis-associates-bullet-proof-cars/

Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has said the Igbo will not use the platform of any separatist group, including the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)
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http://olalekanadigun.com/igbo-wont-negotiate-on-massob-platform-okorocha/

President Muhammadu Buhari is set to replace Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
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http://olalekanadigun.com/buhari-to-replace-kachikwu-as-nnpc-gmd/

Ohaneze Ndigbo has said that the Federal Government has no control over the actions of members of the separatist group, the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
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http://olalekanadigun.com/buhari-cannot-stop-massob-ohanaeze/

Former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe, has denied charges against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja, that he did not demand and collect bribe of N70 million from a contractor handling a skill acquisition project for the ministry when he was minister and does own the plots of lands in Asokoro and Kyame, as alleged.
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http://olalekanadigun.com/i-never-collected-bribe-from-anyone-orubebe/

Kola Aluko, a Nigerian oil magnate now wanted in the UK for money laundering, has admitted that he paid rent for a high-end apartment for the mother of a former minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke...
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http://olalekanadigun.com/oil-tycoon-kola-aluko-admits-paying-uk-rent-for-alison-maduekes-mother/