About the Author

Popularly called Idiagbon during his university days, Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib (YAShuaib), has distinguished himself with several credible awards in the field of public relations. Notable amongst them are Campus Writer of the year, Alhaji Sabo Mohammed Best Student in Public Relations, Delta State NYSC Merit Award, Automatic Scholarship for the Best Corps Writer, Head of State National NYSC Honours Award, NIPR Public Relations Person of the year in Kano/Jigawa State and the Young Achiever of the year from a Business Delegation Group. Read….

----------Some Recent Articles----------

The Plight of the Displaced in Warri- An Eye-Witness

I discovered to my bewilderment beautiful mansions built in the midst of some shanties, which I learnt were owned by individuals, some said including the militants... I learnt contractors for projects in any areas must pay special fees to some leaders and special levies to area boys who behave like militants or the projects that would benefit the community would be abandoned whether mobilisation fees paid or not... It was not surprising that the name of the most wanted militant is Chief Government Tompolo, because every gunrunner and person in possession or illegal arms in this part of the country here is a government and lord who can charge illegal levies arbitrary... Read

Fatima Usman: When A Mother Departs with Children

I looked into our friend’s face, the fears were written all over him:  the trembling lips, the twisted nerve around the neck, the speechless mouth, though agape and reddened eyes were confirmation that something awful had happened... Read

NEMA and Challenges of Managing Disasters

The director general of the agency, a retired Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Audu-Bida viewed the criticisms as challenges to be focused and devised strategies to prevent a reoccurrence or to respond immediately in case of similar emergency. Not many would be willing to work in an organization whose major responsibility is to manage disaster because of the fear of being caught in the flame of the tragedy, but Audu-Bida and staff of the agency have developed passion for the job in saving people in distress... Read

The Battle over Excess Crude Accounts

It is necessary to also know that while the excess revenue account is in dollar, there exists another account for excess revenue known as the Excess Domestic Crude Account for amounts over and above the budgeted benchmark for crude oil allocated to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for domestic consumption... Read

Information Management: Between Odey and Akunyili

Other sensitive ministries like that of justice, health, finance, science and technology have always had relevant professionals with requisite qualification as ministers. Since the reemergence of democratic dispensation in 1999 some of the past ministers of Federal Ministry of Information were Emeka Chikelu, a lawyer; Frank Nweke Jnr., a zoologist and John Odey a banker by qualifications... Read

Reviewing Obasanjo’s Sermon on Obama’s Election

Obasanjo discloses one undisputable fact, a reality we face today as Nigerians which keep us going and sustain our faith in the country as he captures our moods with this word: “After all, hope is the only thing we freely give to ourselves and it is the only thing that we are left with when all else has been taken away.” I think we must move ahead from mere hope to the realization of our dreams, because many have died, counting on hope and hoping for better day that never came... Read

Aftermath: Visiting Niger Delta

Before discovering a seeming Ijaw’s War of dominance over other ethnic groups in the region, I took some daring adventures, quite exciting to satisfy my journalistic instincts. There are indeed natural problems of degradation of lands, oil-polluted streams, air-pollutions from flaring and non-availability of lands because of water level that require massive sand-filling for building or any construction. I was moved by painful irony of a deserted Oloibiri Community where Nigeria struck oil in 1956 and miraculous transformation of Odi to beautiful town after its alleged destruction in a retaliatory military attack in 1999... Read

General Akilu and Philanthropic School of Moral

In this maddening period where schools’ proprietors are charging fees that are out of the blue, when governments at all tiers fail to provide quality education; where teachers in public schools take children for ransom with incessant and reckless strikes as top public officers prefer exorbitant private and foreign alternatives for their wards, there are few individuals in Nigeria, who in the spirit of patriotism and philanthropy are funding education for the benefits of our children’s future... Read

If President Yar'Adua Doesn't Die

Considering some of the fears expressed, many would have anticipated arrival of a coffin from the Presidential Jet, but President Umaru Musa returns safely to the country from the officially disclosed Lesser Hajj and unofficial announced medical check-up in Saudia Arabia... Read

Visiting the Niger Delta Region

My hands are still shaky… my voice quivers as I watch my dear family in sober moods over my present predicament. I wonder if I had offended anybody that the worst deserving punishment to be meted out to me is to be asked to travel to that scary zone. One thing I know is that my boss would not wish my bad luck. For some days since I received an instruction to proceed to the volatile Niger Delta region in Nigeria for an official engagement, I and my family have had to wear mournful looks just as I keep on having nightmares. Sometimes I see Mujaheed Asari Dokubo, Tom Ateke and Henry Okah giving me assurance. Assurance!... Read

Still on Indigene and Federal Character Principles

It may sound strange to sectional leaders to realize that one of the great contenders for the presidency of the United States of America in the present dispensation is Senator Barack Obama, a son of an African Muslim. It is not about ethnic representations it is about whom the cap fits to develop a nation... Read

Africa Finance Corporation and Other Probes

So far the most contentious probe is that on the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) which has generated a lot of debates, divisions and diversionary reactions. The controversy is so intense that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the major promoter of the corporation, had to place disclaimers to dissociate itself and debunk tribal jingoists who were spreading rumours of persecution of one of the major players. Read….

Power Probe: A Repeat of Old Dramas

It seems Nigerians are forgetful. The recent disclosure at the Public Hearing of House Committee on Power Sector probing the alleged misappropriation of about $16 billion earmarked for the power sector by the Obasanjo government is reenactment of a similar public hearing held in June 2006 by a Joint Senate Committee of Appropriation and Finance investigating withdrawals of funds from the Federation Account. Read….

NITEL: Saving Our Collective Patrimony

It is public knowledge that some of the so-called successful private individuals apart from indulging in conspiracy and insiders’ dealings, made their wealth from excessive government’s patronage through inflated contracts, tax rebates, concessions and policies that are sometimes detrimental to government’s responsibilities to its citizens. Read….

WINDFALL: Sharing of Excess Crude and Dollarised Allocations

This is a season of windfall and a period of extra vigilance by electorate to closely monitor how huge and unprecedented revenue allocation would be managed from the Federation Account. Imagine this reality: apart from the monthly statutory releases, VAT disbursements and internally generated revenue, $4.017billion of excess crude revenue would be shared from February 2008 and paid in dollars to tiers of government. Read….

RIBADU: The Battle of Spin Doctors

There is no doubt that Ribadu was able to court the goodwill of the public, especially the media by his receptiveness to their enquiries and for daring the untouchables. He therefore deserved all the solidarity, taking into cognizance that as human he has obvious shortcomings which explains the alleged selectivity in the choice of his preys. Read….

Warren Buffet: Humblest Billionaire on Earth

If that is incredibly unbelievable, then take this: “Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk and never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.” Yet with an estimated current net worth over US$50 billion, his 2006 annual salary of about $100,000 is infinitesimal by all standards compare to remuneration of other CEOs in similar and relatively smaller companies. Read….

What of Al-Mustafha Bamaiyi and Others?

This is about morality, fairness, precedence and justice on criminal cases, no matter the ethnic backgrounds of those involved. Lately the judiciary has granted bails to suspects charged with treasonable felony. Some of the beneficiaries of judicial magnanimity included Ganiyu Adam and Frederick Fasehun of the Odua Progressive Congress (OPC) in the South-West, Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom of militant Niger Delta groups in South-South and now Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the South-eastern Nigeria. The only political detainees yet to be released after more than 8 years in cells are the security officers who served the Abacha regime and mostly from the Northern Nigeria. Read….

BPP: A NEW ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCY?

BPP? What is in a name? Few years ago, the words ICPC, EFCC and NEITI would have sounded gibberish. Today they are the anticorruption watchdogs created by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Their activities might have influenced the improved rating of Nigeria in the recent Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Though Nigeria is ranked 147 out of the 180 countries assessed, it is not amongst the 10 highly corrupt nations considering its first position as the most corrupt nation in 2003, second in 2004 and third in 2005. Read….

Open Letter to Minister of Information

Open letter like this convey the importance of the message instead of the usual direct memo which could be lost in a morass of bureaucratic redtapism or appear inconsequential in the heap of mails requiring the attention of ever busy public officers… Let’s start from the ministry’s headquarters. You may be surprised to learn that staff of the ministry prefer to be posted out than to remain in the headquarters. If there could be a Ministry-of-Do-Nothing, many would not mind to be there than stay in the Ministry of Information. The reason is not far fetched. Read….

ECONOMIC AGENDA: Between Theory and reality

While an economic theory is acknowledged and accepted in intellectual discourse, economic realities are of great concern and more pronounced amongst ordinary citizens. The talk of hyperinflation, per capita income, macro-stability, GDP and exchange rates and all others, which sound like jargons to illiterates, do not make sense to market women, traders and local people. It is when they are translated into developing the economy to become industrialized, less dependent on importation and to generate of employment opportunities and affordable cost of living that the impact could be felt positively. Read….

SEGUN ADENIYI: When an Edior Becomes the Spokesperson

Surprisingly I was summoned by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ubong Ufot Ekaette over the rumour in the press. With a clear conscience, I exonerated myself before the SGF (after all, I was not in the Presidency). I informed him that though it is not professional for PROs to attempt to kill a story, I took the risk for the fear that fifth columnists are always on the prowl within and outside any system to play some pranks. Read….

Still on One Man Four Wives

It is not only Islam that recognizes polygamy, other cultures and religions also promote it.  We should not forget the biblical King Solomon and David who were polygamous. Around the world too, there are local chiefs, traditional rulers and religious leaders, including Christians especially Aladuras that have more than one wife. Some highly celebrated Nigerians from the Southern Nigeria are also polygamous like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, billionaire-politician MKO Abiola, and born-again Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya. Read….