Having read the two books written by Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the recent book by the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, I have come to an un-researched conclusion that Nigerian politicians do not know how to talk politics. 

Estimates demonstrate that, over the last 40 years, Nigeria has been loosing billions of dollars daily to corruption and wastages of the country’s resources. 

In my other article, titled “Achebe versus Obasanjo, Danjuma and Agbese”, I argued that bad political leadership is primarily responsible for the failed state of Nigeria, not corruption as many would like us believe. The duty of this article is to present some of the generally approved qualities of good political leadership and apply them on Nigeria’s past and present presidents and heads of state to see if the findings corroborate this position. It may also assist us to understand why Nigeria has remained underdeveloped since 1960 despite the huge resources available for its development.

Nigeria has many problems, but the root cause of all of them is poor leadership and not corruption, as some commentators including a former head of state would like us believe.  

For Nigeria's All Progressives Congress party to survive after Mohammadu Buhari's presidency, they might as well consider presenting an Igbo presidential candidate in 2023 elections. 

For reasons best known to the Nigerian police, it has refused to accept that a person is innocent until a court of competent jurisdiction has declared them guilty. To the Nigerian police, an accused person is guilty and could be maltreated and/or killed before prosecution.

To succeed as president, Muhammadu Buhari needs to quickly engage in deep and critical introspection to enable him re-align his personal strengths with the exogenous political, social and economic forces that invisibly rule presidential behavior in Nigeria.

Nigerian elections are always marred by logistical problems, poor policing and episodes of violence. But by far the biggest failure is that of the police. Future election planning should exclude the police and instead deploy the defence forces.

Over the decades, the Nigerian authorities have shown themselves to be unwilling to protect the lives and property of the people. The current crisis of the Islamist group Boko Haram fits in this pattern. No words should be spared to question the government and to demand action

The level of indiscipline in the Nigerian military, as revealed by this sad episode, is truly appalling. Soldiers should be professional at all times and respect the citizens who pay their salaries and whom the armed forces are created to protect

The decision by the Jonathan administration to grant amnesty to Boko Haram does not inspire much hope, given that similar steps have not solved the problem of militant groups in the past. A national congress on the future of Nigeria is needed

Upon the death of an artist society loses sorely. But their works provide a continuing reflection on how to refine ourselves

Research on Ikwerre origin does not suggest they are Igbo. But a long lopsided relationship with Igbo led to the loss of Ikwerre identity. They have suffered all kinds of humiliation and marginalization within the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigerian authorities have handled the Boko Haram crisis badly, resulting in more bloodshed. The key to resolving sectarian agitations is dialogue and not the use of force.

Following the passing of Anthony Enahoro, Okachikwu Dibia salutes his thinking around Nigeria’s composition and laments the disingenuous public well-wishing of friends happy to reject his ideas.

Okachikwu Dibia takes a roadtrip to a village in Nigeria and is appalled at the state of the roads.

With former Nigerian president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) suggesting a desire to run the country once more, Okachikwu Dibia argues that IBB would be wise to clarify the question marks around his past actions, in particular by agreeing to be prosecuted over his government’s annulment of the 12 June 1993 elections.