Politics

The Blindside Called State Budgets

“No man is wise at all times, or is without his blind side”

Desiderius Erasmus

The quote by Desiderius sets the stage for an article that has been on my mind for quite a while. The first time I came across the word “blindside”, it was used in the context of a sports game where players may focus so much on a certain opposing team’s key player and in trying to prevent that person from scoring, they inadvertently leave their flanks unattended for another opposition player to exploit, sometimes, resulting in catastrophic loses. Looking at the political system, we can see this analogy play out so well in the way Nigerians focus all their energy on the Federal Government.

Continue reading “The Blindside Called State Budgets”
Politics

Righteous Corruption

A 19th century English clergyman, Frederick Robertson, once said that “There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy: hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny”. It is surprising that a Christian cleric would say something like that. However, we may never know what went on in his mind before he concluded that some persons were undeserving of even a tiny drop of mercy. Nigeria is in the midst of another budgeting process, and at least two of Frederick’s unpardonable sins are being blatantly committed. If Frederick the Annoyed were alive today, what would he say about the 2017 Federal Budget? Continue reading “Righteous Corruption”

Change, Politics

Now That We Have a Budget

Never in the history of Nigeria have Nigerians witnessed the kind of drama that surrounded the 2016 budgeting process. The budget was in the news even before the first word was typed, and continued to stay in the limelight after its presentation, thanks to fluffy unsanitary pads and bickering by the presidency and the legislature. Like Paul Cezanne wrote, “we [truly] live in a rainbow of chaos”. Some say that chaos produces order. The validity of this statement regarding this budget remains to be seen in its implementation. Continue reading “Now That We Have a Budget”