Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

On January 21, 2013 the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found Mr Henry Okah guilty of 13 charges related to terrorism. We’ll get to that and other matters; but for now, it is pertinent to point out a few anomalies.

As flawed as successive Nigerian constitutions have been, they have always, in theory at least, provided for an independent judiciary. In practice, however, this has not always been the case, especially in the last two decades.

Worldwide, there have been more than a thousand 'trials of the decade' or 'trials of the century'.

Two recent news items caught my attention: 'Desperate to go abroad' (Vanguard, 25 October 2009) and

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has been caught with its pants down. The Eaglets Skipper, Fortune Chukwudi, is said to be at least 25 years old, and not 17, as the NFF and the national team claims.

I first became aware of the politics of titles when the Guardian newspaper ran into a hiccup over its refusal to use titles for certain Nigerian personalities. This was some twenty-five or so years ago. Until then, it wasn’t something I had thought about.

The Ijaw ethnic group can be found in seven federating states in Nigeria: Ondo, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Edo. Except perhaps in Lagos State, where migratory history is slightly unclear, the Ijaw are indigenous to all these communities.

Oladimeji Sabur Bankole is the speaker of the Nigerian House of Assembly. Although he recently joined the ranks of the Nigerian ruling class, he has steady roots in the Nigerian political landscape.

Steve John G. Stoessinger, in 'Why Nations Go To War', reminded us that, 'The emperors and generals who sent their men to war in August 1914 thought in terms of weeks, not months, let alone years.' President George W. Bush was also under the impression that Iraq would be a surgical operation.

In recent years, a number of troubling issues have dominated the news and intelligence reports coming out of Nigeria. However, none are as disconcerting as the Niger Delta crisis, a domestic problem that should not have risen to the level of a crisis. However, it has.