Tag: Chidi Amuta
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Just before midnight – By Chidi Amuta
On the eve of the presidential election in 2015, I had cause to write a piece as my column in this newspaper entitled “A Call Before Midnight”. T
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Spring of Discontent – By Chidi Amuta
December 17, 2010 marked the beginning of the Arab Spring, a modern day revolution sparked by an assault on human dignity. Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street corner vegetable vendor had his produce and weighing scale confiscated by a female police officer ostensibly because he did not have a permit.
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Elections and Non-Ballot Factors – By Chidi Amuta
As the organized fanfare of the campaigns wind down, something more potent is about to take its place. The drama and travelling circus of the campaigns will shortly be followed by the ritual of democratic observance. In a little over two weeks, people will queue up to cast their ballot in ritual conformity with democratic…
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Atiku versus Tinubu: Dance of Naked Emperors – By Chidi Amuta
What began as a promising campaign season is about to end up as a roving circus ofpolitical emperors and their minions. As the campaigns for next month’s elections wind down, we probably now have a convenient summation of the surreal experience. We might as well call it ‘the Lost Campaign’. The over six months window…
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Peter Obi and the Northern challenge – By Chidi Amuta
Politicians on a nationwide campaign for the top job in the land are condemned to a life of compulsive nomadism. They are perpetually on the go, sometimes armed with a compass they alone can read or no compass at all. Mapping their itinerary can be quite an arduous task. Worse still, matching the marketing routes…
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Buhari’s Long Farewell – By Chidi Amuta
In recent weeks, President Muhammadu Buhari has been unusually busy. In addition to his normal routines in the line of duty, the president has been making the most of the last lap of his rather unflattering tenure. Through a series of farewell utterances and gestures that will last from now till May, he has been…
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Pope Obasanjo’s message – By Chidi Amuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has once again done what he is reputed for. He has cast a big stone into Nigeria’s brackish political pool. The splash is all over the place. Like a papal encyclical, Obasanjo’s new year day’s endorsement of Labour Party’s Mr. Peter Obi for the imminent presidential election has hit the political…
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2023: Of polls, projections and partisanship – By Chidi Amuta
Nigerians are a very impatient people. Our hunger for instant outcomes should have made us the nation that invented the microwave oven. But our impatience is directed at other ends. We can at least content ourselves with the many unusual things that we have reinvented and perfected our instincts in, namely, politics and religion.
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Christmas in the Age of ‘Delete’ – By Chidi Amuta
Christian clergy and congregations all over the world will today flock and dance all the way to the altar in an ancient commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Joy to the world and food in abundance to those who can afford it are emblematic of a season of goodwill and peace to all of…
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Democracy and its Discontents – By Chidi Amuta
In his most recent book, Liberalism and its Discontents, leading American political philosopher, Francis Fukuyama, throws light on the imminent crisis of democracy. The historical logic of democracy’s development is leading liberal democracy in particular towards a disastrous unraveling worldwide. But the unfolding catastrophe of democracy will impact nations according to the stage at which…