IKECHI EMENIKE AND THE CONVOLUTION OF ABIA POLITICS                     By     Prof. Victor Ukaogo With the benefit of the unfolding political developments in Nigeria today, many will speedily agree with me that the field of politics is not just tortuous but convoluted interlaced with decent fraud, trickery and palpable deceit. Imagine the lies, painful lies told by almost all the presidential aspirants to the effect that their forms were bought by slippers-wearing supporters whose lives and lifestyle will never be the same if ever they see a little fraction of what a hundred million naira represents. Imagine the grandstanding of political appointees that vowed to remain in office and pursue their political dreams; but did we also see how these office seekers melted into submission shortly after Wednesday's FEC pronouncement? This,  more than anything shows how complex and complicated our  politics can be especially in a developing society such as ours. Specifically and for a  st

  OUK WITHDRAWS FROM PRESIDENTIAL RACE In what appears to be a turn of events, senator Orji Uzor Kalu has announced his withdrawal from the presidential race.  See his full statement below; I congratulate my friend, former roommate and boss , Senator Ahmad Lawan as he picks form to run for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under our great party , All Progressives Congress (APC) . I am most glad because he is from the North East , the only zone alongside South East that is yet to produce President of Nigeria. I have always maintained an unambiguous stand that for justice , equity and fairness in our country, the next president of Nigeria after President Muhammadu Buhari should come from the South East or the North East . I have also told Nigerians that I would only run for president if the two major political parties (APC and PDP) zone their tickets to the South East . That is why I was disappointed with our southern brothers who are talking about fairness and equity but has

 HON. BENJAMIN KALU AND THE MANY NAMES OF A PERFORMER                    By      Prof. Victor Ukaogo There is something mystical about names including aliases. This explains the reasonable  carefulness of parents employ while naming their children. In the belief systems across ethnic divides across Africa, names guide and guard their bearers. From the biblical times, names mattered much thus the meaning of those names bore expectations of hope and good will. The focus of this write up is on our workaholic representative Hon. Benjamin Kalu but it is not about his name as we know it but his name as people have christened him. All manners of names and acronyms are borne by him courtesy of his appreciative constituents but two of those names stand out to define him few months to the 2023 electoral contest. The 'Tribal Chief' and 'Mr Projects' are very instructive as names. What meaning does 'The Tribal Chief' convey? While 'Mr Project' is probably discernibl