Africa’s resources, phantom democracy and West’s meddling
Olukayode Oyeleye
August 21, 2023
LAST WEEKEND MARKED the fifth anniversary of the passing away of Kofi Atta Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat, who served as the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) from January 1997 to December 2006. He was the first from the UN staff to occupy that position. Mr. Annan died on August 18, 2018, at […]
Niger, the West and democracy’s shifting goalposts in Africa
Olukayode OyeleyeAugust 14, 2023
SUBLIME DESCRIPTION of democracy can sometimes be misleading. Those countries purporting to export democracy all over the world have run into crises of some sorts over the past one or two decades. They have exposed their hypocrisy and double standards that easily offend the sensibility of many in other parts of the world and make […]
How the IGR expansion process addresses insecurity
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoAugust 14, 2023
Crime is a major problem in Nigeria, with the current common issues being insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and communal clashes. Devastating impacts have been the loss of human lives and property and the threat to food access and availability. Nigeria Security Tracker reported 17,285 civilian deaths between May 2015 and March 2022 because of insecurity. Nigeria […]
Niger’s coup and the looming twilight of françafrique in Africa
Olukayode OyeleyeAugust 7, 2023
DIPLOMATIC SHUTTLES BY Emmanuel Macron since he became the president of France in 2017 to countries with historical ties must have taught him some great lessons of real differences between suppositions, assumptions and realities. Apart from the various French outposts in the Caribbean, Latin America and the Oceania where the countries under France’s sphere of […]
Effective harmonisation of revenue laws at subnational level
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoAugust 7, 2023
The challenge of multiple taxes has been part of Nigeria’s history. As early as 1954, when Nigeria became a federating unit, there were concerns and disputes about sharing taxing powers between the regions and the federal government. They subsequently resolved it through the 1957 Raisman Commission set up at the Nigerian constitutional conference in London, […]
With summit, isolated Russia eyes African partners
Olukayode OyeleyeJuly 31, 2023
RUSSIA HAS ONCE AGAIN convened a summit with Africa last week. The summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and African leaders – referred to as Second Russia-Africa Summit or Russia–Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum for peace, security and development – was held at the Expo Forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday and Friday. This second […]
Lavish lifestyles of Nigerian public officials and citizens’ tax compliance
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoJuly 31, 2023
Many public officials in Nigeria genuinely work for the country’s and its citizens’ betterment. Sadly, they are in the minority. Those enamoured of profligate ostentatious displays with public funds are easily seen and seemingly dominate the space. But this behaviour creates significant socio-economic disparities that affect the way citizens may comply with their tax payment […]
Sudan’s crisis as Africa’s potential tinderbox
Olukayode OyeleyeJuly 24, 2023
POSSIBILITIES OF CREATION of more countries in Africa are becoming more real. Out of the existing countries may emanate new ones. It has happened in the past and may yet happen again anytime soon. The struggle of the Saharawi Arab Republic (SAR) to become a fully independent state – though still hotly contested by Morocco […]
Curbing menace of illegal tax collectors at subnational level
MARTIN Ike-MuonsoJuly 24, 2023
Tax policies are laws enforced by statutorily approved agencies. Sadly, our weak justice system has created copious avenues for criminally minded people to create and enforce their own tax laws. Subnational governments contend with a preponderance of illegal bodies forcefully and dubiously collecting revenues meant for them on the roads, business premises, commercial motor parks, […]
How long will African countries exist as nations?
Olukayode OyeleyeJuly 19, 2023
AFRICANS HAVE TO DECIDE their future, whether they can actually operate as one indivisible entity or will forever remain divided. The various fissures, cleavages and fault lines within and between people in various parts of Africa have historical, social and political underpinnings. The scramble for Africa which came to a crescendo in the 1884 […]