FocusNigerianews

On Saturday, November 16, 2019, the people of Bayelsa State will, through their votes, decide the person and party to lead them for another four years. Like Bayelsa, the game is getting hotter even in Kogi State, ahead of the governorship elections. Primaries have been concluded, and preferred candidates chosen by political parties. Though there are many parties in the race to the government house, the contest in Bayelsa will mainly be between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. However, having scaled through well contested party primaries, Senator Douye Diri of the PDP and Chief David Lyon of the APC still have issues to contend with as regards reconciling aggrieved members within their parties, who felt shortchanged in the primaries that produced them. But this has almost become a normal occurrence in recent Nigerian politics. The real deciding factor is how well the APC and the PDP are able to convince Bayelsans to give them the mandate...

Citizens of the oil-rich Bayelsa State are getting set to elect a new governor come November 16, 2019, as the incumbent governor, Seriake Dickson, is rounding off his second term in office. Unlike in the past governorship elections in the state, anxiety is thick in the air and is visible in the nook and cranny of the state, especially among the supporters and leaders of the two major political parties. Traditionally, Bayelsa is a known Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state and political observers and watchers of political events in the country would give any election in the state to the party. However, the result of the March 2019 National Assembly Elections, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) made great inroads into the state, has thrown permutations on the result of future election in the state open. Thus, as the preparation towards the election has reached a feverish level, the APC leaders are boasting that they will consolidate on the gains of the March 2019 election whil...

Independence Day Message By Segun Showunmi Dear Nigerians, The occasion of this Independence Day must cause us to reflect on genuinely building the nation for the benefit of those here now and for the future generation. What shall the next Generation say of us if we fail to dedicate ourselves to becoming the hope, not just of Nigeria, but of Africa, with the audacity to find what works for us to the benefit of all humanity? While preparing the stage for purposeful leadership and growth enablers, we must reflect on the fact that between 1914 and 2019, we have had 105 years of an amalgamated country; and from 1960 to 2019, we have had 59 years of self rule, which we call Independence. But I would ask: has Nigeria been as independent as it ought to be, especially from the thinking around the idea of nationhood. We must reflect on all we have endured from coups and counter coups, through a devastating civil war that seems not to have settled the issues of nationhood brought to...