UbongAbasi Ise

By UbongAbasi Ise “A great democracy has got to be progressive or it will soon cease to be great or a democracy.” ― Theodore Roosevelt Robert Dode, an Associate Professor and Head of Department of Political Science in the University of Uyo, in an interaction with this writer, had accentuated political parties as the pillars of democracy. Stemming from this assertion, it could be extrapolated that various tastes of democracy are determined by ideological constructs of a given political party at the helm of power. Often times, parties are adjudged progressives and conservatives based on the way their policies influence the lives of the governed. From 1999 to 2018, Nigeria has been ruled under a democratic setting, but pundits are yet to come out with a common position in proving whether a certain political party is progressive, or conservative in real sense of description other than the claims made in their respective constitutions. In Nigeria, it seems the line dividing t...

  By UbongAbasi Ise “You can fool some people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” – Abraham Lincoln Yes! It is very true that a chick that would grow into a cock could be spotted the very first day it is hatched. Likewise a government administration that would leave unparalleled bequest to posterity could be discerned from the manner it begins its steps towards addressing the questions and complexities of development. But for about three years now, it becomes unfortunate that Mr. Udom Emmanuel and his administration are dancing around industrialization in a very funny, confusing way. It dances in such a way that one can’t tell the dance steps, whether it is makossa , suo or shoki or perhaps, a new kind of dance; the government is just dancing along without knowing that its back is positioning awkwardly. There is one popular cliché that says one good turn deserves another. It becomes clear that Governor Udom Emmanuel is fixated on a second ...

ADDRESS BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 2018 DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION,  TUESDAY, 29TH MAY, 2018 My Dear Nigerians! Today marks the 19th year of our nascent democracy and the 3rd Anniversary of this administration. I am thankful to Almighty God for bringing us thus far.  This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy. 2. The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day is a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity. 3. Public safety and security remains the primary duty of this Government. Before this ...

By UbongAbasi Ise “… it’s like all that is afflicting the nation happened in a movie. Can someone please press the stop button?” – Sapphire Collection @deolaplat Nigeria can be an interesting place. This is where weird gags shock public imagination inevitably. Some days ago, I was attracted to the footage of Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris on Femi Fani-kayode’s Twitter handle, @realFKK with the caption, “Behold the Inspector-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria! Who did this to us????” With all amount of curiosity, I pressed the play button, and all I had after seconds was a motion picture of IGP Idris with incoherent audio, which I erroneously attributed to poor network service or some technical faults. Because all I could hear was the word, “ transmission ,” said repeatedly. I had to stop the twitter media out of frustration in order to scroll down for more meaningful tweets. But on the next day, all the social media platforms I subscribed to were overt...