Author: Ikenga Online
The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), an implementing partner of the European Union, has expressed its determination to build capacity of journalists in election coverage. The Project Coordinator of ECES, Mr Hamza Fassi-Fihri disclosed this on Tuesday in Enugu during a Media Roundtable ahead of the 2022 Enugu State Local Government Election. Fassa-Fihri said that training was aimed at ensuring effective coverage of the exercise. He pointed out that the training was part of the mandate of the foundation aimed at providing technical assistance and guidance to Electoral Management Bodies (EMB) around the world. The project coordinator said that…
While it seems no news is attractive presently, unless it was set around 2023 general election, it is important we place a limit to distractions from the hubristic hullabaloos of political maniacs whose shenanigans diverts our minds from other core concerns of life such as health and ethics of existential experience. Yes! Inasmuch as politics remains one of the fundamental institutions of man in his social environment, it has been abused in this age as an attention-diversion machinery. Every other non-politics matters of global importance takes a reserve bench once political season arrives. For instance, no health challenge has caught…
I once had cause to quote Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s 1980 hit song, “Authority Stealing”, where the Afrobeat maestro sang “You be thief” while the chorus chanted “I no be thief”, “You be rogue”, “I no be rogue”, etc, The song readily comes to mind because Nnamdi Kanu denied being an Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) member. Judas Iscariot, who gave Jesus Christ “the kiss of death” and betrayed him, two weeks ago in the court, Nnamdi Kanu, who Igbo separatists see as their infallible and courageous leader, denied them vehemently. The “lion” of Isiama Afara, who calls on his…
Since I read the BBC’s May 10, 2021, story on the Igbo apprentice scheme titled, “How a Nigerian scheme forged in war creates billionaires,” (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56985304) I have been left angry. Here is BBC’s lead to the story: “Nigeria’s Igbo community have (sic) a reputation for being highly successful businessmen – partly thanks to a community-run apprentice scheme that emerged from the ruins of war, writes the BBC’s Chiagozie Nwonwu in Lagos.” I could not get over the BBC’s characterization of this scheme as something forged in war, a reaction to the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970. I…
When tact and discretion are thrown to the dogs, we concede the moral high ground to those we may wish to present as our enemies. The paragraph above is the thesis of this intervention and, for those who have made it their political businesses to misread and then misinterpret everything I say, it is my wish that they read that sentence intentionally very slowly so they don’t mix up the facts they’d encounter in the succeeding paragraphs. If the stories of ostracizing voices of political dissent in Enugu North Zone has been embarrassingly disgusting, the one of December 29, 2021…
The National Industrial Court (NIC), Enugu Division presided by Justice Oluwakayode Arowosegbe has restrained members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Enugu State chapter from proceeding on strike. Arowosegbe gave the order on Friday in Enugu while ruling on an exparte application brought by the state government. Recall that the state government had in suit no. NICN/EN/01/2022 dragged the respondents, Theophilus Odoh and another, for themselves and on behalf of the teachers in the state to the NIC. The respondents had issued the state government a notice of their intention to proceed on strike following its failure to pay primary…
The Federal High Court in Abuja has summoned the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) in a suit seeking to stop the Feb. 23 local government election in the state. Also joined in the suit as first defendant is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Ikengaonline reports that the suit was filed by an Enugu-based legal practitioner and chairman, African Peoples Alliance (APA), Enugu State chapter. The court gave the defendants 30 days from the date of service of the process to enter appearance in the suit. The plaintiff had in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/125/2022 approached the court through originating summons…
Since earlier this week, the internet has been buzzing relentlessly, with no plans to let up. There is this news about a certain young lady who got pregnant by her rapper boyfriend whose name features a dollar sign. So, what do I care? After all, those are the kind of stuff you will find in my wife’s Instagram feed; the type usually confined to the paparazzi world of gossip tabloids and soft-sell magazines. But Robyn Rihanna Fenty is not your run-of-the-mill Hollywood celebrity. The thirty-three-year-old Bajan sits on top of a $1.7B fortune that spans from music to brand ambassadorship…
PROTOCOL Dear Friends, let me begin by appreciating one of Africa’s finest amazons and founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), my sister Dr. Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili (Oby) for continuing to be a key change maker in Africa. Graduating the first class of the SPPG today is like planting many seeds in a wide field: some may end up as iroko trees, others as shrubs, but we hope that together, they will all bond into a visible and impactful forest. When I received Oby’s letter some five days ago, I concluded that given my punishing schedule at…
Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore continues to be celebrated globally as an economic miracle of the 21st century. “From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000”, the book authored by the sage, has become a Bible of sorts for individuals and nations aspiring for transformational leadership. Being one of the four high-growth economies collectively dubbed the Asian Tigers, she curates an advanced market with the second-highest GDP per capita in the world. But lost in that excitement is another equally consequential miracle, namely; the harmonious coexistence of a cultural mosaic. Halima Yacob, the 8th President since September 14, 2017, is…