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Dr Joe Abah, OON Profile picture
Dr Joe Abah, OON
@DrJoeAbah
Grandfather, Author, Visiting Fellow at https://t.co/pohzV1NfYd Reposts only to encourage debate. Views mine, not my employer’s.
110 subscribers
May 29, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Let me tell you some of what normally happens at a Presidential inauguration. The Chief Justice of Nigeria administers Oath of Office on the President-Elect, which he swears to either with the Bible or the Quran, depending on his religion. What if he’s a ‘Traditionalist?’ Thread. We haven’t had an instance where a President is neither a Christian nor a Muslim. If he’s a Traditionalist or an atheist, they can just affirm. However, the Oath of Office in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution must be followed to the letter. It ends with “So help me God.”😊
May 28, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
For some people in government, today is their last day at work. For many, there’ll be a sense of disbelief that today has really come and “nobody has said anything.”😀 A bit like that very old uncle that you know will die soon but are still shocked when he finally does. Thread… Let’s sort through the differences though. When you are appointed a Minister, just plan for a maximum of 4 years. The Buhari government was unusual to have let Ministers stay for 8 years. Before the current government, a Minister was advised to plan with just 2 years in mind.
May 25, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Seriously though, let’s look at the issues raised by Festus Keyamo, SAN. He is reported to have said that the Minister of State position is a redundant position and suggests that it may be a “constitutional aberration.” Let’s explore the issues in a short-ish thread. Thread… You see, the problem starts with Section 147(3) of the Constitution that says the President MUST appoint at least 1 Minister from each of the 36 states. Please note that he could appoint 72, if he wanted. He could appoint 144, or 288 or 360 ministers, if he wants. Any amount.
Mar 18, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
These are important amendments to the Constitution. Thanks for sharing @toluogunlesi. The Exclusive Legislative List has grown larger with every Constitution since 1963. Anything that reduces it is good. Let’s see how the financial autonomy to the Judiciary and SHOAs will work. I’m not sure how the financial autonomy to State Houses of Assembly will work if the State and Local Government Joint Account is to remain. It will be particularly interesting following today’s elections if the Governor is from one party and the SHOA is dominated by another party
Jan 14, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The next President will have to press Nigeria’s reset button. The pertinent issues are POLICY issues. Will he choose for the country to limp on, or will he make the policy choices that could cost him re-election but that could heal the country? 10 questions in a short thread… 1. When will you remove fuel subsidy enjoyed mainly by urban dwellers and neighbouring countries?
2. Will you stop spending money on unproductive ventures that produce nothing, like Turn Around Maintenance of refineries and Ajaokuta?
3. Do you have the courage to stop oil theft?
Oct 11, 2022 • 22 tweets • 7 min read
I have finally reviewed the excellent book by my brother Dr @OmanoE titled ‘Nigeria, Democracy Without Development: How to Fix It.’ I was expecting it to be another ‘whinge-fest’ about the Nigerian condition but was pleasantly surprised. My thoughts are in this thread… Image The phenomenon of Democracy Without Development is a rather common one. The discussions in the book make that clear. I, therefore, think the ‘Nigeria’ in the title doesn’t do it justice. Perhaps, I would have titled it ‘Democracy Without Development: A Case Study of Nigeria.’
Sep 30, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
When I first told my PhD supervisors that I wanted to focus my research on Nigeria, they asked me why. My first response was “Why not? Others have focused on other countries. What is wrong with Nigeria?” Wrong answer. They just wanted me to justify the choice I had made. Thread.. It took me a little while to learn that the right answer was: “I want to focus on Nigeria because it is the most populous black country on earth. 1 out of every 4 Africans is a Nigerian. 1 out of every 6 black people on earth is a Nigerian…
Sep 18, 2022 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Today, I want to talk about career decisions. To my mind, there are essentially four phases to your career. Each phase requires you to make a set of decisions that may or may not determine your future. This is not an expert’s view and is not universally true. Thread… In Phase 1, you have to make a decision whether to look for anything at all to do that brings you money & keeps you occupied, or you just want to stay home, feel sorry for yourself and blame everything on others - your parents, the older generation, politicians, village people…
Aug 29, 2022 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Today, I want to talk about how to handle disagreements with your woman, as a man. As always, this will not work for everyone and what I say depends on what stage you are at with your relationship, and who you are with. What do you do when she says you’ve hurt her? Thread… It depends on what the disagreement is. If you have gone and slept with her friend or you’ve fathered a child outside, that’s a different conversation, one that I have no experience in. What I want to talk about is the normal disagreements (some serious) in any relationship.
Aug 24, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Yesterday, I engaged @asemota in a debate about corruption in Nigeria. I felt that he took an extreme stand in his earlier thread, blaming everything on civil servants. I then also an extreme stand blaming everything on politicians and high-level public servants. Thread… As they say, you don’t read poetry to a man armed with a gun.😂 By yesterday evening, I believe that we had agreed on a few things: The entire system is corrupt. Leadership is key: He gave the example of Edo State where Governor Obaseki is re-engineering his civil service.
Aug 23, 2022 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
I will respond to this thread by my bother @asemota and say that the major perpetrators of grand corruption in Nigeria are the politicians and the private sector, with the civil service playing a small role. Let me explain. Thread… I haven’t done a Twitter thread in a long time, simply because of a lack of time. I considered offering to do a Twitter Space with @asemota on corruption in Nigeria, moderated by someone that knows the system, like @seunonigbinde, but I realised it will take even more of my time.
Aug 12, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Why don’t I tell you about some things that His Excellency @PeterObi did as Governor of Anambra. I supported the Nigerian Governors Forum to put in place the world’s first sub-national peer review mechanism. Gov Peter Obi volunteered to be reviewed first. This is what we found… For context, this was a review conducted by fellow governors, the NGF and the international community. It covered Health, Education, Agric, Infrastructure, Environment, Governance, etc. We examined documents, went on physical inspections and spoke with citizens to verify claims.
Aug 11, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
I have known His Excellency @ChimarokeNamani for 19 years now. In that time, I have NEVER discussed politics with him. I was privileged to do some groundbreaking development work with him for 18 months between June 2003 and December 2004, while he was Governor. Thread… We introduced the School Meals Plus programme to tackle malnutrition and stunting among children of school age, in partnership with DFID, UNICEF, UNEC nutritionists and the private sector. School enrollment went up by some 500% as a result.
Jul 19, 2022 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
I can’t believe it’s already 5 years since this thread. This year makes it 30 years I’ve been married. I said we would continue the thread another time. That time is now. As before, this thread is addressed to my fellow men and won’t work for everybody. Thread… Her phone charger will go bad before yours. Nobody knows why this happens. It is one of the world’s great mysteries. If you use the same type of phone, buy a new charger cable every week. Don’t be petty and use a tape to mark your charger. You are no longer in boarding school.😂
Apr 7, 2022 • 4 tweets • 12 min read
The Twitter handles in this thread tweeted propositions/hypotheses that formed chapters in our book #NigeriansInTheory. To say ‘Thank You’, @toyosilagos and I are giving each owner a free copy. Please DM @bookcraftafrica BY 14 APRIL. [You would have to pay for delivery.] Thread… Image @DRtilewa
@TerfaTG
@toyin01
@DoubleEph
@chrisngwodo
@simonkolawole
@MrPa_Johnson
@jesseshock75
@YusufIsmail1
@Funmilola
@ancientmind
@markessien
@je_mc2
@OkeowoKunle
@cremechic11
@abiolaaloba
@TheEconomist
@FAdeyera
@MP_Muye
@cpkumtap
@SamOdum1
@papasguy1
@odinaks
@Anabagail
May 21, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Good morning. I am interested in following the handles of some people that help to shape how Nigeria is run. Let’s start with the National Assembly. We have 360 House of Reps members. Kindly suggest the handles of 36 of them (10%) that are active here and tweet by themselves. We have 109 Senators. 10% of that figure is 10.9. Let’s round it up to 11. Can you please suggest the Twitter handles of 11 Senators of the Federal Republic that are active here and tweet by themselves (a bit like American legislators).
May 3, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Today, I found an honourable on Twitter. I tweeted at @fccpcnigeria and @lukuenzy said he’ll give me fairly used iPhone 6plus if they respond. They responded. I asked him to redeem his pledge. Some expected him to block me or laughs it off as a joke. He didn’t. Short thread... I remembered that @Folasheycrown22 had asked me for a phone for her business some time ago. I told her I only focus on widows and orphans and would not be helping her. To put pressure on @lukuenzy, I told him he needed to redeem his pledge so that I could help @Folasheycrown22
Apr 28, 2021 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
MY CUSTOMS EXPERIENCE: Coming back into the country, I was pleased how smoothly everything worked at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. I presented my UK Negative Covid test and proof that I had paid for another test in Nigeria after 7 days. They checked & I was let through. Thread.. Immigration @nigimmigration was smooth. The officers welcomed me back home with a smile. We bantered about which one I had missed most: Jollof rice or Suya? It felt good to be back home. Luggages came out on time too. Free self-service trolley. No stress. Now on to @CustomsNG
Apr 3, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Let me bring a different perspective to today’s #NaijaKnowledgeX. After a long hiatus, I will do a thread that will tell you what I think about an issue first, before inviting you to comment and share your own knowledge. Today, the topic is “Why Nations Succeed.” Thread... Many academics, including Acemoglu and Robinson, have written about ‘Why Nations Fail.” They generally theorise that countries that are unsuccessful are successful because of their history and the choices they have made in the last and continue to make.
Nov 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
It is important to have clarity on the issue of #EndSARS, because so many people are muddling up so many different issues:
1. The #EndsSARS protest was concerned with better policing, better governance & a better country. Thread... 2. The #EndSARS protests were peaceful. Perhaps the most peaceful was the one at the Lekki Tollgate. The military action against the Lekki Tollgate protesters, even before the commencement of the curfew, was, therefore, unnecessary and uncalled for.
Oct 16, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I welcome the 7-Point Demands in the public space, as a step forward in the #EndSARS #EndSWAT debate. However, although it is well intentioned, it needs much clearer articulation for it to have any effect. In the following short thread, I will offer some guidance. Thread... 1. Institutional Reform (Security): This is fine.
2. Cost of Governance: What RMAFC approves is not the problem. It is what people like NASS award to themselves, without approval from RMAFC or anyone else, that is the problem. The demand here should be reformulated.