Deep Thought

 President-elect, Tinubu: Rerouting Nigeria’s Pathway to Glory III By Prof MK Othman   Agriculture should be the next priority after education for the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) to reroute Nigeria’s pathway to glory. Agriculture can create 100s of millions of jobs, eradicate poverty, reduce social crimes, attain food security, and attract millions of foreign exchange-earning. Developing agriculture in Nigeria today is akin to plucking the low-hanging fruits, which requires simple effort, concerted determination, and focus. This is because Nigeria has unlimited agricultural potential and the capability of feeding the African continent. The development of agriculture depends on four key resources; education/knowledge, human, water, and land resources. Nigeria is stupendously blessed with human, water, and land resources in large quantities. On water resources, Nigeria is divided into seven climate zones, with average annual rainfall from 600 mm in the Sahel savanna...

 President-elect, Tinubu: Rerouting Nigeria’s Pathway to Glory II By Prof MK Othman Miraculously, the election of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) as the next president was uniquely different from how the past three and current presidents became number one citizens. President Olusegun Obasanjo did not plan or dream of becoming Nigerian president before he was overwhelmed and persuaded to become PDP flag bearer and won the election in 1999. He garnered 18 million votes to beat his close rival, Chief Olu Falae who contested under a joined ticket of AD-APP.  In 2007, Governor Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s dream was to represent the people of the Katsina zone at the Red Chamber as their senator. Against Umaru’s plan, providence crowned him as the veritable successor of President Obasanjo. He moved to Aso Rock, the seat of the presidency with Dr. Goodluck Johnathan as his Vice President. Before then, Dr. Goodluck was the deputy Governor to the Bayelsa state governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha up to 2...

 Food Security in Africa: Is Genetically Modified Technology a Pathway? II By Prof MK Othman This is a corollary to my article of 16th February 2023. The continuation of this article was disrupted by the topical issues of cashless policy implantation and the 2023 presidential election. Now, I am back to the topic. The enormity of food security issues in Africa is a major concern to both people of Africa and the entire world. It is pertinent to bring out major food insecurity indicators that comprehensively measured food security in the world. There are two major indicators “Prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) and Food insecurity experience scale (FIES)” for measuring the “Prevalence of severe food insecurity”. While the average PoU of North America and the European Union from the year 2000 to 2016 was 2.5 percent of their population, Africa recorded 24.3 percent in the year 2000, which reduced to 17.8 percent in 2013 and then increased to 20.1 percent in 2016. As of 2021, the prev...

 Re: Nigeria 2023- Nigerians, Mercilessly Beaten by Cashless Policy By Prof. MK Othman Nigeria is undoubtfully a unique country in all ramifications. Nigerians have unlimited resilience and unshakable survival instincts. In 2017, I was a visiting scholar at an American University and had a fruitful interaction with some American professors and they were attracted to come to Nigeria for a collaborative project. All arrangements were made on the type of project (agriculture and nutrition), how to secure a grant, and the potential number of persons to benefit. At the last minute, their Embassy gave security advice against their visit to Nigeria and particularly the proposed project area. Despite the security report, the team leader was so determined to move ahead with our plan and damn the consequences until his family members were made to prevail over him. He called to apologize and then asked me whether the Nigerian security situation was worse than that of Afghanistan or other war-...

 Nigeria 2023: Nigerians, Mercilessly Beaten by Cashless Policy By Prof. MK Othman In the last two weeks or so, millions of Nigerians were living in a hopeless situation of economic desperation, misery, hunger and desolation. This type of situation was never experienced within the last three decades. Marriages and other social festivities were hurriedly canceled or postponed ad-infinitum. No one has an idea about when the situation will improve. Although the presidential election is very close, the people are not as enthusiastic. I met a top-ranking professor, whose single statement, in a seminar can mar or make an academic the quality of the presentation, in a queue at a filling station with a “black-market” price of N345 per liter, bowing to a fuel attendant; he wanted to transfer N5,100 for a fuel of N3,000 and then be given cash of N2,000. The attendant gave only N1,000 on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Reluctantly, the professor agreed because he had no option.  Yet the POS...

 Qatar 2022 World Cup: Other Winners and Losers By Prof MK Othman The 2022 World Cup tournament tagged “Qatar 2022” came and gone, left sweet memories, and accentuated lessons for future tournaments. The billions of soccer fans across the seven continents watched with painstaking amazement 64 matches played by 32 countries during the 29-day tournament. Qatar was the first Arab- Muslim country to host a such gigantic event since the world cup tournament started 93 years ago. The country’s excellent performance in hosting the event was very commendable. Qatar went the extra mile to give the tournament a distinctly Arab and Muslim flavor, achieved huge success, and made it unique. Qatar has raised the hosting standard to high-heaven.     When Qatar won the hosting right in 2010, there were agitations and protests among the players and supporters against the hosting because of alleged human rights abuses and its anti-democracy stance. Many believed the hosting right would be ...

 Outrageous Cost of Cashless Policy in Nigeria By Prof MK Othman The Nigerian economy was once described as a “voodoo” economy, “the more you look, the less you understand” as it defies all kinds of known remedies. The mystery of Nigeria as a nation is not limited to its economy but includes socio-political and cultural dispositions. Longtime ago, western pundits postulated, hypothesized, and predicted the disintegration of Nigeria by the year 2015. Time has since revealed their empty prediction; regrettably, however, the nation is still sliding into the abyss of squalor and poverty, exacerbated by the population explosion – a kind of time bomb that must not be allowed to detonate.  Perhaps, it was the voodoo affair that made the current Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele to fast-track the full implementation of the cashless policy by redesigning the higher denominations of Naira, the Nigeria currency. It was reported that over three trillion Naira were in circulation but ...