Democracy is a universal concept. Its practice differs from one place to another, as regards acquisition of power and institutional arrangements. Hence, one can talk of “American democracy”, “Nigerian democracy”, “British democracy”, “Irish democracy”, and so on. Wikipedia defines ‘democracy’ as a form of government in which the people have the authority to choose their governing legislators’.
The present Nigerian genre of democracy started in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo took office as the President of Nigeria in 1999, ending the multiple decades of military adventure in power that began in 1966. It was only interrupted by a brief period of interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The best definition of democracy is perhaps that given by Abraham Lincoln in his 1863 Gettysburg, Delaware speech. He said democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people. In the world at large, there is nowhere democracy can be said to be a Republic of equals. Thus, soci
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SIR Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. The first Prime Minister from Bauchi State was a school teacher and politician. He was a cool figure who preoccupied himself with the integration of Nigeria’s over 250 ethnic groups before and during his tenure. Tafawa Balewa was a vocal leader, a trained teacher and he was one of the most educated northerners during his lifetime. He participated in numerous international development forums.
He was nicknamed the “Golden Voice of Africa” because of his eloquence and oratorical prowess; he was indeed a man of unusual authority and having gravitas of a statesman.
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THE planned amendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999(as amended) is not the appropriate response to the ongoing clamour of the people of Nigeria for true federalism. The simple reason is that the CFRN 1999 is more of a unitary constitution which has been found to be unsatisfactory and unworkable in a federation. The wave of clamour for true federalism is a reflection of the frustrations of Nigerians with the 1999 Constitution which is simply not working and is about to turn the country into a failed state.
The problems with the 1999 Constitution are incurable by ordinary process of legislation or constitutional amendment because the issue of centralizing trends in Nigeria’s federalism can neither be addressed nor reversed by the current National Assembly which in itself, is a beneficiary of the lopsided structure, and is seen as part of the problem. To put the issues in proper perspective, it is pertinent to trace the background to Ni
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As her plane touched down in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday, February 2, 1959, there was only one thing on the mind of the celebrated Nigerian politician and activist, Margaret Ekpo: the upcoming federal elections in December and how she could further her fight for women’s rights on the back of them.
A frequent traveller, Ekpo had just completed a trip to the United States. Now returning to her base in Aba, eastern Nigeria, she was about to deliver another speech from her political armoury.
Regarded as a female “pillar” of the political party the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), in eastern Nigeria, Ekpo was met by a large crowd of women who came to welcome her back from her trip.