[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n recent weeks the Federal Government of Nigeria has been making noise about oil theft in the Niger Delta. Two developments led to the governments’  apparent concern over the theft of crude oil.  First, there was a serious blow up after “thieves” trying to tap from the Shell Petroleum’s pipelines led to an outbreak of fire that forced the company to shut down the pipeline. The immediate result was the shortage of petrol at filling stations in several parts of the country, which has persisted for about a month now. The second was an enquiry by the House of Representatives into oil theft in the Niger Delta. That enquiry was the result of the disagreement between the Government and the National Assembly over crude oil price benchmark for the 2013 budget.  We say that the Federal Government has been making noise because they are very knowledgeable about the oil theft but have chosen to complain instead of t...

Two weeks ago, Mallam Abbas Dabo Sambo, quintessential civil servant, elder statesman and currently Co-Chairman of the Kaduna State Peace and   Reconciliation Committee, asked me a very interesting question. He wanted to know why he no longer sees very green and luxuriant farmlands in Southern Kaduna, especially in Zangon Kataf LGA. He said that in the past every traveler could see large fields flourishing with a wide variety of crops in the area, but that he does not see them anymore. After pondering upon the issue, I gave him three reasons for not seeing the green fields any longer. First, agricultural technology has changed worldwide but has remained stagnant in the area. Farmers still rely largely on the age-old cutlass and hand hoe, for clearing and cultivation. We have not transformed farm level technology to enable the new generation of rural youth to avoid the drudgery attendant upon using the crude technology of their for...

The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) has, at long last, announced that Local Government Council (LGC) elections shall take place on 1st December, 2012. This is coming more than 18 months after the expiration of the tenure of the last elected LGCs in the state in January 2011. The running of the LGCs by appointed Interim Management Committees is in violation of the provision of Section 7 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, which states that “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the Government of every State shall, subject to section 8 of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.” It is a fact that this issue was taken to court in Kaduna State, and the court ruled th...

The Northern part  of Nigeria is today in a “paroxysm of violence”, to borrow a phrase that the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) Youth Wing used in a petition they sent to Sultan Abubakar III on 23rd August 2012.  In their protest, the JNI Youth Wing heaps all the blame for the crises and violence in Kaduna State on the head of Governor Patrick Yakowa. In our convenient predilection for political mud-slinging, history was ignored, and Patrick Yakowa who inherited all the accumulated problems of over three decades, appears to be the sacrificial lamb for our collective culpability as citizens not only of Nigeria, but as people who live in a complex society.  This protest by the JNI Youth Wing caused me to reflect upon the various explanations being offered for the crisis facing the Northern part of Nigeria at this time in our history. It is argued that there is violence because of unemployment, poverty, ignorance, religious intole...