New depth of shallow
As the special delegates convention of Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] was ending in Abuja at the weekend, it reminded me of a small phrase I once saw in a newspaper. In 1992, with then US President George Bush Senior unable to advance the multinational alliance that won the first Gulf War against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and with his administration groping around fruitlessly as the American economy faltered, The Economist of London said in an editorial that President Bush’s rule “has brought new depth to the meaning of shallow”.
When you think about it, the run-up to the PDP convention that just ended had brought new order to the meaning of confusion. Convention dates had been announced and shifted on three occasions, allegedly because the party executive under Colonel Ahmadu Ali forgot to inform its appendage, INEC, before it fixed the date. Before INEC stepped in late last year and gave Ali the pretext to shift the convention date, ward and local government congresses had already been held. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Monday Columns | 
1 Comment »
Many Nigerians know this already, but for those who are yet to find out, let me serve them with a useful piece of notice. The death of one’s father could be a very traumatic experience, even when he is 80 years old and you are no longer dependent on him for food and school fees. This fact, I only found out in the last ten days. On the night of Friday, January 22, I received a call informing me that our father, Alhaji Muhammadu Jega, had just died in Sokoto, even though he was engaged in a lively chat only 30 minutes earlier. I decided not to inform anyone in my house that night, allowing them to have some calm before the storm. I crept into bed at midnight, determined to have a sound sleep in readiness for the long drive from Abuja to Sokoto the next day. However, as I lay in bed, sleep did not come, and I saw every hour pass by until the alarm bell rang at 6am.