Ogiri John Ogiri

By Ogiri John Ogiri. Unpalatable phenomena of the last few years in Nigeria as they concern constant conflicts escalating between herdsmen and farmers have thrust upon us a whole new responsibility of devising or adopting new models of pastoralism suitable for a 21st Century Nigeria. A look at many available statistics in the country will reveal that Nigeria has recorded hundreds of herdsmen-related deaths in the last five years across many States namely Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Enugu, Adamawa, Ondo, Oyo among others. This painful development has come to strengthen the evidential proof that the old method of extensive animal herding by herders can no longer be sustainable. This is why, in the interest of national peace and progress, ranching has been (and should continue to be) adopted by many States with bans on open grazing of animals. For instance, in Benue State, the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law was passed in 2017. Others are those of Oyo, Ondo ...

By Ogiri John Ogiri We seem, now, to be witnessing a refurbished era of re-invigorated regional and sub-regional nationalism. Citizens' allegiance now appears to have been tilted away from national defence and survival towards regional survival and self-preservation so that it is now difficult to establish a premise upon which a conclusion can be drawn that our corporate existence as a nation is non-negotiable. This age-long belief in and adoration of the principle of non-negotiability of our corporate existence as a country is now being betrayed by the realities on ground. Nothing threatens our corporate existence as a sovereign country more than these realities. Unfortunately, over time, we have continued to hold on to the choice of living in denial of these unfair, unjust realities. Thanks to the recent shameful escalations in the spate of unprovoked attacks on indigenous communities by suspected marauders or herdsmen, many Nigerians are now resorting to self-help. The body lang...

By Attahiru M. Jega Introduction Federalism is the principle, some would say a conceptual or institutional framework, which defines “the division of authority among national and subnational governments” in a given country (Rozell and Wilcox 2019). Such a country is referred to as a federation, or as operating a federal system. Regardless of whether the subnational governments were priory independent and came voluntarily to form / create a federation, or federal system, or they were compelled by historical circumstances and forced into such a union, the subnational governments have, by legal, constitutional arrangement, become the ‘federating units”, which have coordinate, or shared, responsibilities with the national government. A major objective of a federal system is non-conflictual management of diversity and sharing of power and resources for stable societal progress and socioeconomic development. Both in law and in practice, most federations strive, and take care, to e...

By Ogiri John Ogiri. One prayer practice among many Catholics today is that of beginning their prayers, especially when they find themselves in the midst of our Protesting brethren, with the phrase "in Jesus name". These people follow popular trends in praying more than what the Church teaches. Perhaps, they're ashamed of being Catholics among non-Catholics. Consequently, they sheepishly conceal anything that reveals their Catholic identity whenever they're around our Protesting brethren.  As a Catholic, wherever I find myself, I don't begin my prayer with " In Jesus name " as commonly used by many Christians during their prayer sessions. I wasn't taught that way. I was taught to always begin my prayer "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" and to the best of my knowledge, the Church hasn't adjusted or changed her position on that. So far, in my over 24 years as a Christian of Roman Catholic extrac...

 By Ogiri John Ogiri Whatever your dreams are, however lofty or otherwise they may be, it is important to understand that they are achievable. No dream is crazy. Some have big dreams due to their exposure to great mentors like whom they want to become. These mentors expose them to stories and evidences of successful people whose lives and achievements in turn inspire them to achieve their dreams. On the other hand, there are people whose dreams during childhood years is to become what many people won't want to become in life. For instance, our former President Obasanjo once told an audience about his dream during childhood years. He said that, while growing in his village, he had one dream and that was to become a motor vehicle mechanic. I listened to him on TV that day. It sounded crazy but it was still a dream even though fate would later avail him the privilege of becoming the number one citizen of Nigeria- firstly as a soldier and secondly as a democratically-electe...

By Ogiri John Ogiri I believe that Islam, as a religion, has no problem with peace since it is a religion of peace. Islam, if it is truly lived to its ideals, is an instrument of peace. Rather, it is those who hide under the veil of Islam to pursue and achieve their political and economic ends that pose the greatest threat to peace both in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. They read the Holy Book but choose to twist its message, morph it into a very dangerous duet of hate and weapon and offer it to the uninformed in their fold. When their political power is threatened or they face the loss of their power advantage over those from without their faith, they garb it with a cloak of Islam and incite other less informed Muslims to kill those fellow human beings who hold and share a view different from theirs. Sometimes too, they can incite their followers to kill other members of the same faith who disagree with their personal opinions usually christened God's command. At the end when...

If there is a problem, you should find the courage to interrogate it. If you can ask questions, you can find the cause. If you can find the cause, you can find the clue to its solution. ©Ogiri John Ogiri.

By Ogiri John Ogiri. One of the most disgusting sights I've ever seen and still see today is a lady with a bleached skin. To know that some guys are equally involved in skin bleaching makes the whole thing more complicated and worrisome. Complicated because I find it difficult to fathom why a guy will choose to destroy his original skin colour for something inferior to his natural possession than maintain it. It is worrisome because many people are now suffering from skin cancer as a result of skin bleaching.  The truth is whoever told you that you must look like the white man or white woman in order to look attractive only exploited your lack of self-esteem and self-confidence for his or her business interest. Of course, only people with low self-confidence and self-esteem can easily be attracted to skin bleaching. Here is the thing. As long as you weren't born white, you can never become a white man or woman. Skin bleaching can only temporarily help you look like ...

By His Lordship Revd Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah Sermon at the Wake keep Mass for His Grace, Archbishop Peter Yariyock Jatau (1932-2020) at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral, Kaduna on January 5th, 2021. 1. As I stand before you, I feel pulled between the poles of honour, humility and trepidation. I am honoured and humbled to be asked to preach in the wake keep of our beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather in the faith, His Grace, Archbishop Peter Yariyock Jatau. However, you are also asking me to perform an almost impossible task, namely, to pull the threads of the life and times of a rare human being within a short time. This is the basis of my trepidation. I therefore crave your indulgence as I, on your behalf, try to paint a few strokes of love on a canvass that is impossible to fill up. Like the six blind men of Hindustan, each of us can only tell a small part of what we experienced of this great man.  2. Today, our dear nation is like the proverbial farmer se...